Air Traffic Controllers Ask Public for Donations as Shutdown Drags On

Controllers missed a paycheck this week. ‘How do they take care of their children?’ the union chief said. ‘That makes the system less safe.’

An air traffic control tower at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 28, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Air traffic controllers who missed their paychecks for the first time on Oct. 28 during the ongoing government shutdown gathered at several airports nationwide to ask the public for donations.

At 20 airports, controllers passed out leaflets asking people to call their congressional representatives and urge them to reopen the government.

The effort was organized by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents nearly 20,000 controllers, engineers, and other safety-related professionals across the United States.

Association President Nick Daniels joined Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on Oct. 28 for a news conference about the missing paychecks.

The shutdown has strained the nation’s network of air traffic controllers, causing flight delays and cancellations as staff shortages leave some towers without enough support, officials reported.

The extra stress of worrying about putting food on the table and paying rent has exacerbated the crisis, according to Daniels.

“America’s air traffic controllers are now having to focus on how ... they put gas in their car,“ Daniels said. ”How do they take care of their children? How do they pay for child care? That makes the system less safe.”

He urged people to contact their congressional representatives to take action and end the shutdown.

“These hardworking men and women are showing up to do their jobs,” he said.

Duffy said many long-serving controllers can survive without this first paycheck because they have planned for days such as these. But many new controllers who are still in training cannot handle not being paid.

Some controllers have taken on second jobs with Uber, DoorDash, and other services to get through the shutdown, according to Duffy.

But missing another paycheck would be devastating for most of them, he said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks about how the government shutdown is affecting travel at airports throughout the country during a news conference at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Oct. 28, 2025. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

“Almost every controller can’t make it [without] two paychecks,” Duffy said.

The demonstrations at airports this week were meant to send a message to Congress, he said.

A bill was presented in the Senate on Oct. 28 that would have allowed the shutdown to continue and also provided pay to critical workers such as air traffic controllers. The bill failed after Senate Democrats voted against it.

“Controllers and those other critical employees need our government to be open, and they need to be paid,” Duffy said.

The shutdown could create long-term problems for the Transportation Department, even if the government were to reopen this week, Duffy said.

Some trainees have left the air traffic control program, and instructors at the academy are not being paid.

“This truly can drive people out of a profession where we’re trying to build more numbers instead of taking numbers away from us,” Duffy said.

Duffy estimated that the department had about one week left before it would run out of funding for the air traffic control academy.