How the Government Shutdown is Affecting Airports and Airlines
Updated: 1/17/2019
The Federal Government shutdown began back in December, screwing over about 2 million workers and everyone who depends on them. This includes 51 thousand TSA Agents that keep our airlines moving. Here’s a running list of how the shutdown is impacting airports and airlines.
The Machinists Non-Partisan Political League has a plan to end the shutdown – find out more at GoIAM.org. Speak Out Here >>
1. Food courts and gift shops are losing business.
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When TSA security checkpoints close, they dramatically rearrange the flow of foot traffic around them. Airport restaurants and shops that depend on passengers with plenty of wait times walking past and patronizing their establishments are struggling to attract customers who now have little time or are not even in that part of the airport.
2. TSA agents are starting to depend on food pantries.
AMY MATTHEWS/ST. MARY’S FOOD BANK via AZCentral.com
A Phoenix-based charity recently attracted some 300 TSA agents to their food distribution operation. Jerry Brown, a spokesman with St. Mary’s Mobile Food Pantry, helped deliver about 10,000 pounds of staples such as canned goods, bread, and eggs to the women and men that work to keep our airports safe.
The sheer number of needy TSA families left him stunned. “I didn’t expect that from missing just one paycheck,” Brown said, adding that he saw “everything from smiles and thank you’s to tears” from thankful TSA agents.
More details from AZ Central:
3. Dulles is closing security checkpoints.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Via Fox5 DC
The airport is also blaming recent snowstorms, but TSA related staffing shortages are the leading cause for reduced security checkpoints. Story from Fox5 DC.
4. Houston’s Bush Intercontinental is closing security checkpoints.
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The massive United Airlines hub is also a key station for Spirit Airlines and an estimated 4,000 IAM members. Closures have caused work area disruptions for airline workers.
5. MIA has had to cut back on hours of operation.
Pedro Portal, via MiamiHerald.com
From the Miami Herald: Concourse G closes at Miami International Airport as federal government shutdown drags on.
6. TSA agents need money to come to work, because gas, toll roads, and work lunches aren’t free.
Win McNamee/Getty via Vox
But, since they haven’t been paid a dime since before Christmas, hundreds of them can simply no longer afford to report for duty. This won’t change simply because the government re-opens. They need a paycheck.
7. Air Traffic Controllers are federal employees mandated to work and not getting paid.
Chalabala via IAM141 Media
Although better able to sustain a missing paycheck in the short term than other federal employees, Air Traffic Controllers have an incredibly stressful and critical job.
8. Many FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Officers are furloughed.
Acc.af.mil
This makes it impossible for airlines to get new routes approved and accomplish other critical housekeeping tasks, such as creating new pilot licenses and approving plans to expand and improve airport facilities.
Without FAA inspectors, an aircraft training facility in Oklahoma City has been forced to suspend operations.
9. Delta’s CEO Says that the airline has lost $25 million because of the shutdown so far.
Flickr
Delta CEO Ed Bastian says that the shutdown is holding up new aircraft certifications and preventing federal employees and contractors from flying. All the slowdowns have cost the nation’s largest airline $25 million in the first month of the shutdown, according to Bastian.
10. Security Lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport stretched for more than THREE HOURS as a result of staffing shortages.
Photos: Twitter/Omar Jimenez via Business Insider
What does it take for long lines and unendurable waits at airports to become newsworthy? At the busiest airport in America, travelers now also have the longest lines. Business Insider has all the details.
11. At least three unions representing federal workers are suing the Trump administration to end the shutdown.
Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP via Washington Post
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied a request from the unions to force the government to pay workers during the shutdown, but the legal fight is far from over. More hearings are scheduled for next week, if the federal courts have not run out of money and are still operating.
12. Several airport and airline unions are marching, protesting, and lobbying lawmakers to bring an end to the shutdown.
GoIAM.org/IAM141 Media
The largest airline and aerospace union in the world, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, is confronting federal decision makers over the shutdown. And they’re not alone. Thousands of union members from a range of industries are holding marches, rallies, and lobbying efforts… all aimed at ending the shutdown as soon as possible.
13. Several airlines are posting record profits, and really don’t need all this right now.
Chalabala via IAM141 Media
Airlines in the US have had a tough time since 9/11. The long, painful (but ultimately successful) recovery has largely been an inspiring tale for the US Commercial Aviation Industry. But, CEOs and market insiders are warning that the creeping impacts of a prolonged shutdown will be impossible to predict and prepare for, placing the current stairline prosperity in grave peril.
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Government Shutdown Spreads to More Airports
Houston’s Terminal B Security Checkpoint was closed indefinitely as of Monday.
Houston’s largest airport, Bush Intercontinental (IAH), is closing a primary security checkpoint as they deal with staffing shortages caused by increasing numbers of TSA agents who can no longer afford to come to work without pay. The announcement follows a similar decision by officials at Miami International Airport (MIA) to reduce hours at TSA checkpoints at its Concourse G, and record-shattering security lines at other airports, such as Atlanta’s ATL, which had wait times in excess of two hours.
About 4,000 IAM members work at IAH. The station is home to both Locals 811 and 2198.
Although flights will still be leaving from Terminal B, where the closure is taking place, passengers will need to check in at other terminals. Businesses at Terminal B will remain open, but can expect less customer traffic as passengers will be arriving in the concourse closer to flight departure times.
11:00 AM, and some businesses at IAH Terminal B had yet to make a single sale.
Airport administrators have not said how long the closures will last. IAM141 AGC Victor Hernandez (IAH Ramp, DFW, SJU) issued a statement to Machinists Union members at the airport, reassuring the membership that the expected impact to operations at United Airlines was minimal. “As of right now we are not losing any days of work,” he said in the statement, adding that some people may be expected to move from some work areas to others. He promised more updates if any changes happen that could impact union members at IAH.
Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner blamed the closure on a lack of TSA agents available to work.
IAH is already one of the busiest airports in the world.
More than 100,000 people travel daily through IAH, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. Airport parking can range as high as $30 per day, and there are limited public transportation options to the airport, making it an expensive place for TSA agents to commute to every day. Once additional costs such as daycare, lunches, and tolls are also factored in, a typical TSA agent in Houston will spend a sizable chunk of their income each month just getting to work.
A TSA Agent looks on as passengers line up at Terminal C, which was fully staffed.
TSA Agents have not received a paycheck since before Christmas, amid the most extended government shutdown in US history. Since the average TSA agent earns about $35k a year, going without pay means going without rent. “Thankfully, I have two jobs because I’m not getting paid at TSA,” said one agent on Twitter (#ShutDownStories). “But I still have to show up. Which means I have to work both jobs every day, sleeping two to three hours at night, just to not even break even on bills.”
The government shutdown began on December 22, after President Trump and lawmakers failed to agree on a spending bill. There are few indications that the shutdown will end any time soon, which means that more disruptions are certain.
Get involved! Contact IAM141 MNPL Legislative Director Dave Roderick for information about what you can do to help end the shutdown, and get 800,000 Federal Employees back to work.
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IAM141 Airmail: Winter 2018
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IAM141 Airmail: Safety Conference 2018
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Airline Workers Heard Loud and Clear in Congress
UPDATE: The FAA Re-Authorization Bill of 2018 was approved by the Senate and signed into law by the president on October 5.
The US House of Representatives approved the FAA Reauthorization Bill, which includes strong “Union Made” language. The bill is now headed to the Senate.
“Machinists should be very proud of the work that we’ve done together on this bill,” said District 141 MNPL Director Dave Roderick. The IAM141 MNPL, or Machinists Non-Partisan League, is the legislative department of District 141. The IAM141 MNPL works to make sure that airline workers have a seat at the table as laws that impact their industry get made.
“Laws shouldn’t be written entirely by Wall Street investors and CEOs,” Roderick
explained of the work his department does. “Congress should hear from just as many break rooms as they do from boardrooms.”
“And, while we didn’t get everything we wanted, airport break rooms were heard loud and clear in the new FAA Reauthorization Bill.”
IAM141 in DC: (From left: IAM141 Legislative Director, Dave Roderick, IAM141 Communications Coordinator and New Jersey State Council of Machinists President Ines Garcia-Keim, Ross DelConte (Local 914 EWR), Darlene Williams (Local 1487 ORD), and Local 914 EWR President, Bill Gula.
IAM Activists aggressively fought for two years to have Congress include pro-airline worker language in H.R.-4, the proposed $17 billion, five-year Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018.
The result of all the MNPL work is a final bill that contains many of the top priorities of IAM Members within the commercial aviation industry, as well as important improvements for the flying public.
Among the highlights:
Longer Rest Periods for Flight Crews.
This is what it looks like to be “off duty” if you’re a flight attendant.
Exhaustion in the skies is much more than a workplace annoyance for flight attendants; it can also be a serious safety issue. Flight crews are responsible for the security of the aircraft cabin, while they also perform functions that create the primary customer experience for most passengers.
The FAA Bill will help make flights safer, and help Flight Attendants enhance customer service by increasing rest periods to at least ten uninterrupted hours between shifts.
Abuse Protections for Customer Service Agents.
Now passengers are legally required to chill.
Airline CSAs have critical security responsibilities at our nation’s airports, and yet are often the victims of severe abuse by passengers. Hundreds of attacks against gate and ticket counter agents occur every year, and many go unreported.
IAM Members have lobbied to require airlines to implement an assault prevention plan that protects CSAs from abuse while they are on the job. The new FAA Bill will require the immediate reporting of any verbal or physical assault on gate and ticket counter agents and establishes protocols for law enforcement to assess and take action before a passenger involved in a violent assault is allowed to proceed through security or board an aircraft.
Airlines must implement the new protections and training within 90 days of the reauthorization, and the Secretary of Transportation will also oversee a study that will gather data and make recommendations for future training and best practices.
Additional Improvements
Feel Free to Remain Seated.
The new FAA Bill will make getting bumped less of a drag.
Bumping Protections are included in the new FAA Bill. The new rules specifically address a well-publicized incident that took place last year, as the bill prohibits the “involuntary bumping of passengers once they have boarded the plane.” It looks like once the gate crew has cleared you to board the plane, you’re good to go.
Less Painful Seats?
Soon airplane seats may become less horrible.
For passengers that are big or tall or anyone with a bad back, air travel is more than just a pain. It can literally be torture. Air travelers that dread long hours in cramped seats may have some welcome relief on the way. The bill requires the FAA to set minimum standards for passenger legroom and seat width.
The bill also requires all newly manufactured commercial passenger aircraft to be equipped with secondary cockpit barriers, bans in-flight voice cell phone calls, requires the regulation of service and emotional support animals on aircraft, and improves the safe transport of lithium batteries.
Support the Legislative Work.
The bill now moves to the US Senate for approval. Please contact your Senator and urge them to keep the pro-airline worker language in the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2018.
“This bill has provisions that help protect IAM members and the traveling public,” said Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “It will also ensure continued investment into the aviation infrastructure which will provide a stronger workforce for our members. I encourage all our members to call their senators to urge them to pass this legislation.”
Tell your Senator that you support airline workers and the new FAA Reauthorization Bill Now.
The IAM141 Machinists Non-Partisan League is funded entirely through voluntary donations from members like you. To become a supporting member of the IAM141 MNPL, please complete an MNPL Automatic Payroll Deduction Card for any amount today. Cards can be found by visiting the MNPL page at IAM141.org.