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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that air traffic controllers may be punished if they started calling in sick before missing pay during the government shutdown.
“My concern is, for those air traffic controllers who, before they missed a paycheck, and were in the shutdown, they decided on a continual basis not to show up for work,” Duffy said at a news conference in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
“They don’t know how long the shutdown was going to be, they hadn’t missed a pay period, and they didn’t come to work,” he continued.
The transportation secretary said his department hasn’t yet decided whether to take action against such controllers. He did not specify what consequences may be imposed.
The Transportation Department’s press team did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.
But Duffy said he was concerned about the “dedication” and “patriotism” of these workers, and that his department would investigate them.
“Again, we have to look at the data,” he said. “I would just tell you: I’m trying to bring more air traffic controllers in, I’m not trying to take air traffic controllers out.”
“But if we have controllers who systemically weren’t doing their job, we will take action,” he added.
Air traffic controllers are among the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have missed pay since October 1 while Congress hashes out disagreements on government funding.
Controllers received a partial paycheck in mid-October for work completed before the shutdown, but then missed their full paycheck for the month on October 28.
Duffy’s comments align with President Donald Trump’s remarks on Monday that air traffic controllers who called in sick during the shutdown would be “docked.”
“For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Conversely, the president floated a $10,000 bonus for controllers who continued working during the shutdown period.
Some controllers started calling in sick amid the shutdown, creating a staffing shortage that was enough to prompt the Federal Aviation Administration to order that airlines cut 10% of their flights at 40 major US airports.
Over 7,000 US flights were canceled between Friday and Monday.
Before the shutdown, the US was already facing a shortage of air traffic controllers, who must be between 31 and 56 years old and undergo three years of training before they can perform their duties.
With fewer controllers, those still performing their jobs face fatigue from long hours and heightened pressure while coordinating flights.
In earlier, separate remarks on Sunday, Duffy said it’s likely that air traffic controllers may start finding second jobs or gigs to support themselves until Congress approves a funding bill.
“Virtually none of them can miss two paychecks,” he said.
He further warned that if the shutdown continues, Americans should expect disruptions to their travel plans during the Thanksgiving holiday season.
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