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(Washington) More than 1,000 flights were canceled again on Monday in the United States and Donald Trump threatened air traffic controllers who did not show up for their jobs to slash the salaries that must be paid to them after the lifting of the budget blockade.
Although a solution seems to be emerging after an agreement in the Senate, the “shutdown” has now lasted for more than 40 days, depriving more than a million civil servants of pay, including air traffic controllers.
They are experiencing increased absenteeism, and, to avoid any accidents, the authorities have been asking airlines for several days to cancel flights, creating disruptions.
“All air traffic controllers must return to work IMMEDIATELY!” ! ! All those who do not do so will have substantial deductions” from their salaries, the American president wrote on his Truth Social network.
On the contrary, he mentioned a “bonus of 10,000 dollars” for each controller who remained in his post during the duration of the budget blockage, describing civil servants in this situation as “true patriots”.
The National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA) did not immediately react to this threat.
At the same time, he was finishing a press conference, during which he called on political leaders to end the “shutdown”.
“Enough is enough,” said union president Nick Daniels, adding that air traffic controllers “should never be used as pawns in a political game.”
The organization highlighted the human cost of the budgetary paralysis, and affirmed that the situation was putting flight safety more and more at risk every day.
“It has been 41 days since air traffic controllers have been hit with financial uncertainty which is creating stress, frustration and pressure preventing them from being 100% focused on their mission,” lamented Nick Daniels.
According to him, professionals “no longer know how to pay for gas to get to work” or even childcare services.
Nick Daniels also reported that air traffic controllers were starting to take odd jobs to pay the bills, adding to the fatigue.
“Saints”
The flight cancellations, requested by the public air regulator FAA, aim to reduce the volume of planes to monitor for air traffic controllers on duty, many of whom are forced to work “six days a week, 10 hours a day”, according to the NACTA union.
More than 1,700 flights were canceled Monday in the United States and more than 4,000 were delayed, according to the FlightAware website.
At Newark Airport, near New York, passengers are juggling cancellations and delays, without blaming air traffic controllers.
“It’s a shame for this country that these people are not getting paid, and I think they are saints for continuing to work for so many days without being paid,” Will Aston-Reese, a retiree waiting for a flight to Seattle, on the other side of the country, told AFP.
Angeline Mathews, a 21-year-old student, had difficulty finding a fallback solution to reach Louisiana. However, she considers that the Democrats are right to stand up to the Republican majority.
“It has a negative impact on people, but it’s not for nothing. Hopefully this will lead to something positive,” she told AFP.
2000 km to the south, in Miami, Will Roses wants to believe that the situation is about to be resolved on a political level “so that we can move on to something else”.
