Because of the procedural rules of the Senate and House, it now seems very likely that Congress will not pass a funding measure by midnight EST to keep the federal government open and operating. As a result, as of Friday, Feb. 9, at 12:01 a.m. EST, it appears that federal appropriations authority will lapse, and the government will officially shut down for the second time in less than a month.
While all NATCA members perform duties that are critical and essential to the National Airspace System (NAS), more than 3,000 NATCA-represented employees will be furloughed. These furloughed members work across nearly all of our bargaining units at air traffic control and other FAA facilities. They are among the hundreds of thousands of federal employees negatively affected by the government shutdown. When these professionals are prohibited from working as a result of political brinksmanship, the flying public and the NAS suffer.
We recognize that this is a stressful situation for you and your families. We know that you likely have questions about the shutdown and how it will affect you. Although we may not currently have answers to every question, we have prepared answers to the most frequently asked questions. The Shutdown FAQ, Appendix P-4 from the Slate Book, and the
Feb. 9 Furlough Implementation MOU are on the NATCA website at
natca.org/shutdown
.
There is a lot of activity happening on the Hill tonight and it will continue into the early morning hours. NATCA is monitoring this situation closely. We will send out additional member updates as we have news to share.
We will not rest until Congress ends this latest shutdown. We will continue to advocate for our furloughed members to return to work, and for all NATCA members ultimately to get paid for this time, whether they were furloughed or not. In the long term, we will continue to be advocates for the NAS to have the funding certainty it needs.
