"This is a matter of safety, security, and economic concern," said the Association of Flight Attendants, which held a protest in the capital Washington on Thursday along with other aviation sector unions to demand the resumption of normal services AFP/Brendan Smialowski
WASHINGTON: The partial shutdown of the US government could have serious consequences for air safety, according to unions representing aviation workers, which are calling for an immediate resolution to the budgetary stalemate.
Some 800,000 federal employees, including those from the Department of Transport and the Department of Homeland Security which handles air safety and oversees screening at airport checkpoints, have been affected since Dec 22 when the impasse over President Donald Trump's demand for a southern border wall opposed by Democrats in Congress began.
Those deemed non-essential have been placed on unpaid leave, while others have been forced to continue working without pay.
"This is a matter of safety, security, and economic concern," said the Association of Flight Attendants, which held a protest in the capital Washington on Thursday along with other aviation sector unions, to demand the resumption of normal services.
"Our members and the traveling public are flying within a system that is less safe and secure as long as the shutdown continues," added the letter to Congress from the union, which represents some 50,000 professionals.
"We know all too well the economic hardship that can result from any loophole in our security and any means for inflicting harm by those who view the United States and its citizens as the enemy," it added in a reference to the Sep 11, 2001 attacks.
The association noted the airline industry contributes over 5 percent of the national GDP and supports 11 million jobs, warning: "As the shutdown continues the entire industry will begin to unravel.
"Airlines cannot receive delivery of aircraft causing route cancellations, attrition of air traffic controllers reduces flow of aircraft in the air, and as transportation security officers reduce in numbers we will experience long, slowed security lines."
The TSA has seen a spike in the number of agents calling in sick since late December AFP/Brendan Smialowski
SICK DAYS
The National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NACTA) meanwhile slammed the crisis, saying it was making difficult conditions even worse for its 20,000 members.
Federal Aviation Administration Academy in Oklahoma City has been closed as a result of the shutdown and simulator trainings have been disrupted.
"Stopping the hiring and training pipeline will exacerbate the current controller staffing crisis," warned the association in a statement.
Even before the shutdown, controllers have been working six-day weeks and 10-hour days at many of the country's busiest airports, NACTA's president Paul Rinaldi said, adding: "This staffing crisis is negatively affecting the National Airspace System, and the shutdown almost certainly will make a bad situation worse."
Travelers meanwhile are beginning to worry about long lines, with a spike in the number of Transportation Security Administration agents calling in sick since the end of December.
"Despite providing essential government services, TSA officers are among the lowest paid Federal employees, with many living paycheck-to-paycheck," Representative Bernie Thompson, the new Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security wrote in a recent letter to the TSA leadership.
"It is only reasonable to expect officer call outs and resignations to increase the longer the shutdown lasts, since no employee can be expected to work indefinitely without pay.
The TSA has tried to reassure the public. A statement on its website on Wednesday said 1.74 million passengers were screened across the day, and 99.9 percent had to wait 30 minutes or less.
"Yesterday, Jan 9, 2019, TSA experienced a rate of 5 per cent compared to a 3.6 per cent unscheduled absence rate one year ago on Jan 9, 2018," it said, lauding "the more than 51,000 officers across the country (who) remain focused on the mission."
From airlines to Buffett's NetJets, impacts of shutdown spread through aviation
The economic impact of the partial U.S. government shutdown is rippling through the aviation industry, hitting companies as diverse as Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets and aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus.
By Alan Levin
The economic impact of the partial U.S. government shutdown is rippling through the aviation industry, hitting companies as diverse as Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets and aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus.
NetJets, one of the world's largest corporate-jet operators, hasn't been able to add new aircraft into its operations, while the delivery of planes made by Airbus and Brazil's Embraer has been disrupted because the federal employees who must give their seal of approval aren't working, according to union and industry officials.
"This partial shutdown has already inflicted real damage to our nation's aviation system and the impacts will only worsen over time," 34 trade associations and unions wrote in a letter on Thursday to President Donald Trump and congressional leaders. "We urge you to act quickly to resolve these issues."
While U.S. air traffic controllers and airport-security officers are at work without pay and flight operations have continued with minimal disruptions, many other transactions in the highly regulated aviation sector have ceased as thousands of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees stay home.
More than a dozen major departments and agencies have been shuttered since Dec. 22 as Trump and Democratic lawmakers feud over funding for a border wall. Workers declared essential have been ordered to work, but the FAA has only this week begun to recall a handful of its 3,000 safety inspectors.
Those inspectors and other FAA employees are required to sign off on thousands of transactions, from pilot licenses to layers of approvals necessary before a new jetliner can enter commercial service. In some cases, employees of airlines or manufacturers like Boeing have been granted legal authority by FAA to give such approvals, but many such tasks still require a government official. Even if Boeing and Airbus jets receive post-manufacturer certification, an FAA inspector must approve adding the planes to an airline's fleet.
The shutdown has halted work on new aircraft certification, interactions between FAA and other nations, some aircraft registrations, commercial-drone flight authorizations, aircraft mechanic licenses, introduction of new air-traffic technology and airport-construction approvals, among scores of other actions, according to the industry letter.
Delta Air Lines, for example, needs FAA inspectors to give final approval to add new Airbus A220 models to its fleet before it can begin its scheduled introduction by Jan. 31, said William Hoogenhout, a regional business agent for the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union. Hoogenhout helps oversee Delta.
The impacts on Delta are more extensive than that, he said. The airline also is expecting delivery of about two additional new jets a week, which can't be added to its fleet without FAA approval. Inspectors must also sign off on repairs for older aircraft, several of which are in repair stations now, he said.
Delta can use its own employees to approve when its pilots move from one aircraft model to another, but the FAA's pilot inspectors normally share those duties and their absence has put an added burden on the carrier.
"It's really slowing them down," Hoogenhout said.
Delta continues to monitor the situation and work with the FAA, and expects no customer disruption or impact to flight schedules, said Morgan Durrant, a spokesman.
Airbus isn't seeing a significant slowdown in its deliveries, said company spokesman Clay McConnell.
Aircraft manufacturers like Airbus often have employees with authority to give some FAA approvals, though not in all factories. Even if they can deliver new aircraft to a carrier, other FAA approvals are often needed before the plane can be put into service.
Southwest Airlines believes the shutdown "likely" will delay its plans to begin service to Hawaii, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said in a message to employees last week.
The nation's almost 2,000 charter carriers are facing even more impacts, according to union members and industry groups.
NetJets, for example, has been blocked from adding new aircraft to its charter fleet, said Jon Jeffries, a regional business agent for the PASS union who works in the Ohio office that oversees the company. Representatives of the company didn't respond to email and telephone requests for comment. Warren Buffett is the chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway.
One air-charter company has two aircraft stranded in Canada as a result of the shutdown, said John McGraw, director of regulatory affairs for the National Air Transportation Association, a trade group representing such carriers. The newly purchased planes were being painted and need a special FAA approval before they can be flown back to the U.S., McGraw said.
"It's a big impact having an aircraft sitting around," he said. "It costs a lot of money."
Companies making corporate jets and other aircraft used by private pilots are also seeing increased hurdles to doing business because FAA workers haven't been able to approve new designs or special flight authorizations, the trade group General Aviation Manufacturers Association said in a statement.
"We are very concerned about the potential effects of a prolonged shutdown on other elements of FAA operations," the group said in an email.
"As the partial government shutdown continues, the human and economic consequences are increasing and doing greater harm," said the letter to Trump and lawmakers. "Civil aviation supports more than 7 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and $1.5 trillion of economic impact, creating over 11.5 million jobs, but this shutdown is hampering our ability to function effectively."
The letter was signed by groups ranging from the General Aviation Manufacturing Association and Airports Council International-North America to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
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