Air Traffic Controllers With Perfect Attendance During Shutdown Will Receive $10,000 as Promised by Trump

The Department of Transportation is handing out perfect attendance awards to air traffic controllers who didn’t play hooky during the government shutdown.A total of 776 air traffic controllers and technicians will be receiving cash bonuses of $10,000 for working through the 44-day government shutdown while nearly 20,000 other workers are getting back pay but nothing more.As the shutdown dragged on for more than a month, air traffic controllers increasingly failed to report for duty, often while struggling with the financial strain of going unpaid.Some sought additional employment and others were unable to cover essential expenses like childcare and fuel to get to work. These absences led to widespread airport delays nationwide, prompting federal officials to mandate flight reductions at 40 high-traffic airports.President Trump suggested on social media on November 13 that rewards should be doled out to those who stayed on the job.“These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.“Democrats may not care about their financial well-being, but President Trump does. This award is an acknowledgement of their dedication and a heartfelt appreciation for going above and beyond in service to the nation.”There is no indication that the department will follow through on Mr. Trump’s threat to punish those who called in sick. In his November 13, message the president suggested that those controllers “will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record,” and could be “substantially docked.”Various unions representing aviation industry workers have spoken out against the decision to reward only those with perfect attendance.According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union, just 311 of its more than 10,000 members will qualify for the bonuses. While the union acknowledged that those with flawless attendance records merit acknowledgment, it emphasized that other workers are equally deserving of recognition.“We are concerned that thousands of air traffic controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown, ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo across the nation, while working without pay and uncertain of when they would receive compensation, were excluded from this recognition,” union officials said in a statement.The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union stated that the thousands of technicians under its representation worked diligently to maintain the outdated computer and radar systems used by controllers throughout the shutdown, arguing that all of them warrant recognition.“It took many hands to ensure that not one delay during the historic 43-day shutdown was attributed to equipment or system failures,” the union said in a statement.

Air Traffic Controllers With Perfect Attendance During Shutdown Will Receive $10,000 as Promised by Trump

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