Local leaders of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association spoke about the importance of air traffic controllers continuing to show up to work in a video message published on the tenth day of the federal government shutdown.
“Even though some aspects of the government may shut down, we never do,” Vanesa Hess, Facility Vice President at Denver Center, said in the video.
Patrick James, a facility president at Kansas City Center, said it was “vitally important” for air traffic controllers to “continue to show up to work and maintain the safe skies the American people deserve.”
“I urge you – if you’re fit for duty, continue to serve the American flying public,” Alex Cisneros, facility president at Southern California TRACON, said in the video message.
In a separate video released Friday, the head of NATCA urged elected officials to end the federal shutdown and pushed back on the “persistent false narrative that air traffic controllers somehow control its outcome.”
“Let me be clear: air traffic controllers did not start this shutdown, and we will not be responsible for ending it,” NATCA president Nick Daniels said in a video statement Friday.
NATCA represents nearly 11,000 certified Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers and more than 3,300 trainees, according to the organization.
He thanked air traffic controllers for their “unwavering professionalism.”
“You are highly trained, highly skilled, and uniquely positioned to make sure that the system remains the safest and most efficient in the world,” Daniels said. “You remain the unsung heroes of the aviation system even as you work without a paycheck with no clear end in sight.”