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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) Air traffic controllers and TSA agents won’t be paid during the government shutdown. They’ll get all their back-pay once the shutdown is over. But, for now, they’re being asked to work for free.
Some are calling in sick. Some claim they’re working other part-time jobs, like Uber and Doordash, to cover their expenses. Others simply don’t want to show up at work until their paychecks return.
We are told that if things don’t reopen between now and Thanksgiving, the holiday travel period will be a disaster. There would be fewer TSA checkpoints at the airport, and much longer lines. Full airplanes could sit on the tarmac waiting for a takeoff slot to head towards their destination.
This is already happening. It would be worse during the big holiday rush.
The last time I flew during the holidays was the day after Christmas in 2024. The Minneapolis-St Paul airport TSA line began immediately as I walked in from the parking garage. It stretched down the hallway, around the corner, and around another corner, before you got into the rope maze to be screened. An airport employee walked the line: “ from this point, it will take you one hour,” as if we were waiting to ride Space Mountain at Disneyworld.
No worries. When I arrived at the gate, my plane wasn’t there. The inbound flight was delayed taking off from Tampa because of air traffic control congestion. The plane would fall further and further behind during the day.
This is what the essential part of our government looks like.
Perhaps there does need to be a choke point to finally move Congress to solving the government shutdown. Missed flights, long airport lines, and ruined Thanksgiving vacations may finally ratchet up the pressure.
Chris Conley
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