Delta ‘implores’ Congress to end government shutdown as workers continue to work ‘mandatory overtime’

• The nearly monthlong government shutdown has led to a lack of funding for federal workers.
• Delta Air Lines urged Congress to pass funding for the government.
• The airline said in a statement that “missed paychecks only increases the stress” on workers.

Delta Air Lines called on Congress to end the nearly monthlong government shutdown as air traffic controllers missed their first paycheck earlier this week.

“Delta Air Lines implores Congress to immediately pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government so that our air traffic controllers, TSA and CBP officers charged with the safety and efficiency of our national airspace can collect the paychecks they deserve,” a spokesperson for the airline said in an emailed statement to Business Insider.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been at an impasse over the clean resolution bill, which would provide crucial funding for the government. Part of the funding goes toward the paychecks of federal workers, including air traffic controllers and TSA agents.

The government has now been shut down for 29 days, making it the second-longest shutdown in US history. In 2018, the government shut down for 35 days, extending into the new year. Controllers missed their first full paychecks on Tuesday.

The Delta Air Lines spokesperson said in the statement that “missed paychecks only increases the stress on these essential workers, many of whom are already working mandatory overtime to keep our skies safe and secure.”

While airlines aren’t responsible for paying federal workers, employees such as the air traffic controllers and TSA help avoid flight delays, move security lines along, and process baggage.

Getting airplanes off the ground is essential to airlines’ bottom lines.

During Delta’s Q3 earnings call on October 9, nine days into the shutdown, Glen Hauenstein, president of Delta, said that the cost impact on the company was “less than $1 million a day now.”

The previous government shutdown, which began in 2018, cost the airline about $1 million a day, Hauenstein said during the call.

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