Air traffic controllers who duck unpaid work during the gov't shutdown could be fired, Duffy warns

Just ground all planes until the stupid circus is resolved. That should out some pressure behind it.

Ah yes, my employer is playing this game as well. Recently after a decade of working loyally for my company, they decided to insult everyone in my department.

We're an important department.

Step 1: Fire ATC

Step 2: Rubber stamp plane manufacturing safety checks

Step 3: ATC messes up due to shortage

Step 4: TCAS fails because it never got checked

Step 5: 🛩💥✈️

Step 6: Blame "ANTIFA Terrorist"

Step 7: Martial Law

Well, Portalnd won't fight back, we need step 7 somehow....

This is when Meta or OpenAI or Elon will handover an AI solution and after a few horrific crashes, will declare the system is vetted and permanent.

Tada

Yeah because the US is just swarming with qualified air traffic controllers hoping to get to work in their place if they're fired. /s 🙄

... hoping to work in their place for free

Lol go ahead and fire them. That will definately help the shortage of controllers!

It's already illegal for them to strike. This comes as no surprise.

So.. slavery then?

Because firing the controllers worked so amazingly well when Regan did it...

And when Elon did it. It was only a few months ago when there were reports of one lonesome controller being in charge of enough air space that at least four were required. And after all of that they now aren't getting paid, with this fucktard saying if they decide not to turn up to unpaid work THEY'RE jeopardising all air traffic. No asshole, the GOP are the ones shutting it down.
I'm not too familiar with the backwards labour laws in the US, but for a place that only worships the Almighty Dollar, surely you can't get fired for not performing unpaid work.
- The whole situation that federal employees don't get paid money that has nothing to do with the budget fight in DC, because of the budget fight in DC, is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I get it that they can't fund new projects (so what about ICE?), but this is just stuff that's going to have to be paid anyway.
  Of the abundance of ridiculous nonsense rules in DC, this is by far the worst, and that bar was already very high.
Presidents who can't remember history tend to repeat themselves.
- Admittedly he couldn't remember it if he knew it because he's senile, but he definitely was never aware of it.

Hahahaha ok. Tell that to any employment lawyer.

That is called alavery, or indentured servitude at best. Kinda frowned upon.

Reagan set the precedent in the '80s. ATCs can be summarily fired ever since Reagan broke their union
- Seriously, most people still have no idea how evil Reagan really was. He did a lot of damage to this country that led to the situation we are in now.
- And how did that work out?
- Reagan was a monstrous piece of shit but even a lot of dems love him. I suppose because a lot of dems are now to the right of 80s republicans.

oh no what will they do without all that non existent money. Bet they are super worried about getting work with their hyper specific skill set that fewer and fewer people are able to perform

They are desperately short workers, even in the best of times, so their response is to fire the few workers they have from one of the most notoriously stressful jobs on the planet?

What is more likely to happen is that they will fire controllers loudly and publicly, lose every single lawsuit, be forced to rehire them, which they would have done anyway because they need them so badly, except they will also pay all back pay, also significant damages, an enormous fine, and if the employee is smart, they'll demand an enormous raise in pay to return.

And the MAGA Nazis deserve it.

Now that's an efficient government!
/s
Yeah, this is just gonna lead to less efficient air traffic control, more congestion, eventually fewer flights, higher expenses, and less people flying over cause they just can’t fucking afford it.
Doesn’t really affect any of the ruling class because they have enough money to use private jets.
When’s the last time any of these assholes actually sat in economy class seat?
- All members of the government should be prohibited from every taking a private flight, as well as flying first class. They should have to fly in a regular coach seat, and put up with whatever heckling they get, or drive.
  A private flight is a totally undisguised bribe. Accepting any transportation from anyone should result in mandatory prison time.
Crippling our civil infrastructure, making the US a place no one wants to visit or trade with, cancelling all our alliances, crashing our economy, devaluing our dollar to the point thats its no longer the global reserve currency, shattering our military alliances, removing consumer food, environmental, employment protections and civil liberties.
Whats left on Putins list. Ah right, a civil war based on ethnic tensions. And destroying our legacy military might in some sort of pointless war, hopefully against an ally. And perhaps a nuclear exchange that they arent a part of. And only 3 years and ~5 months left to get that all done.
The party of fiscal responsibility and reduction of waste right there for ya.
I hope it is here like it is and all those kids shows that I watch growing up, the bad guy always loses because of their idiocy and arrogance.
- "And I would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for you meddling Liberals!"

Threatened to be fired from unpaid, highly specialized and stressful work? Sounds like relief rather than a threat.

They were just taking time off from being unpaid, but yeah, lets push them to quit permanently! Itll only take 2-3 years to replace every single one of them that quits. Who cares if planes crash and people die in the meantime? Im sure there will be plenty of people clamoring to become ATCs seeing how this plays out
- We'll just have Elon's Hitler-aspiring Grok run everything and prioritize flights based on how Jewish the passenger names sound

And replace them with… whom, exactly?

Reagan fired the air traffic controllers without bothering to think that through, and aviation in the USA is still suffering the after-effects of that as the workers that were trained up to fill those gaps now all retire at the same time. I don't doubt the Republicans would make the same mistake twice, especially given that these ones are far stupider than Reagan's people.
- Probably harder to fill this time. It's a hell of a lot easier to be an ICE scab than an ATC scab.
- Republicans (and people in general, TBH) don't make the same mistake twice.
  They make it 6 or 7 times, at least.
- I don't doubt the Republicans would make the same mistake twice,
  Well folks did elect Trump twice... so there is that.
- The airline industry is much bigger now. More flights happening.
- And especially since the goal of our enemies is to make America devolve into chaos, and the collapse of the airline industry would go a long ways in accomplishing that objective.
  And their treasonous MAGA lackeys are happy to help.
- Fucking boomers
Microsoft Copilot.
I mean it is in the name!
- You joke, but Elon will already have claimed that his AI can do the job
- Microsoft flight simulator
ChatGPT, of course! What's the worst that could happen?
Maybe they didn't think this through...
- Guaranteed they didn't
Ai
- Still cant take orders successfully at drive throughs, much less do one of the most dangerous, dynamic, and complicated jobs known to humanity.

Rich guy logic

The Blue States should hire them, alongside the rest of the RIF'ed personnel of the Trump Regime. During a civil war, those extra traffic controllers will help keep air travel moving smoothly and let the workers have reasonable working hours.

Also, it is the right thing to do. The Trump Regime is hurting people for the sake of a tantrum.

Haha they should, states rights and all that. Say that they are dismantling the department, which wouldn't be too far from the truth. Which means that the states have the right to make their own if the Federal Government wants to abdicate its responsibility.

Any politician making decisions to not pay working citizens shall be expired

Unpaid work is slavery, every single air traffic controller should just walk away.

Watching the US aviation industry collapse as a result would be endlessly amusing.

Reagan did it in 1981 and it didn't cause a collapse. 11000 air traffic controllers went on strike and Reagan fired all of them. This is arguably what started the decline of unions in the US.
It was fucked up then, and it would be even more fucked up now, but in reality the industry would move on pretty quickly. Hopefully the people would rise up in response, but I'm not holding my breath.
- It nearly did cause a collapse and the industry has never recovered. ATC has been a critically understaffed industry since before you were born.
- The people "rose up" during BLM protests for over a year in the streets. Systematic change? Nope. Black people any safer now? Nope. All those protests did was hold exactly ONE fucking cop accountable. That's it. We're fucked and I hate saying that. Still going to do my part, but it's like the ship has been sinking since before I was even born...
I'm sure everyone would love that and would wholeheartedly support that decision. No blowback whatsoever.
- If there's blowback, blame the people causing the problem (elected Republicans), not the workers impacted by it.
  Strikes and not showing up for unpaid work are meant to piss people off. People don't change shit when they're getting what they want already.

Demanding slave labor by threatening to loose you from your master if you refuse to cooperate is a strange take.

As of early 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that only about 10,800 certified air traffic controllers are actively working, while the industry needs around 14,600 to operate efficiently. Nearly 280 of the 300 air traffic control facilities are understaffed.

This Duffy needs to recognize these people are to be prized not humiliated. What a total TrumpTurd.

They didn't get here with logic.

FORCING people to Work UNPAID is PROOF that Trump is the MOST Pro Worker president EVER!

get that man a nobel peace prize. /s
- Nobel Piece of Shit Prize
Killing it yet again I see

Almost like it’s a bad idea to come out and mass threaten the livelihoods of employees you need. Weird.

Go ahead do it.

Controllers, unionize while fired, what are they going to do, there's already a shortage when you aren't union

https://www.afacwa.org/reagan_fires_11_000_striking_air_traffic_controllers
I would expect something like this to happen.
They're already unionized in federal air traffic facilities. The privately run ones aren't but they're still being paid.

Image description: A scene from the movie Dodgeball in which a commentator says “That’s a bold strategy Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for them.”

Truly one of the highest stress, lowest appreciation, skill-based professions on the planet. What have we become?

I have to think anyone who can work ATC could be a hell of a project manager in any industry with just a bit of OTJ training. I don't know if hiring managers feel the same, but I'd be hopeful that they could easily find work elsewhere.
- I feel the same of good devs, actually. But as a dev, I just feel atcs are just on another level.

Does anyone have that "first time" meme handy?

That'll make them show up for no pay! What's the worst that could happen with a bunch of disgruntled air traffic controllers?

Here's to hoping the people that fly the most are met with their decisions

Like other affected federal workers, controllers are worried about how they will pay their bills during the shutdown when they won’t get paychecks. Duffy and the union’s president have acknowledged the unfairness of their situation, which only adds more stress to their already stressful jobs.

NATCA President Nick Daniels said controllers might have to take time off to work a second job just to make ends meet during the shutdown. But Duffy said that right now, he thinks the controllers who are missing work are “lashing out” in frustration.

“It’s going to eventually be that when people don’t have money, they have time to start making life choices and life decisions. And it shouldn’t be waiting for air traffic controllers to break because of having to take out loans, credit card debt, paying bills, gas, groceries, mortgages. Those things aren’t going to stop,” Daniels said.

So... What if they are actually sick...? I mean not getting paid and still having to show up let alone the stress of being a air traffic controller seems likely to make people prime candidates for low immune systems. Oh, but that's right sickness doesn't exist under RFK, right?