More than 30 aviation industry groups and unions are urging the federal government to end the partial government shutdown, citing its harmful effects on the industry.
“As the partial shutdown continues, the human and economic consequences are increasing and doing greater harm,” the groups wrote in a joint letter to President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-12-CA). “Civil aviation supports more than 7% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and $1.5 trillion of economic impact, creating over 11.5 million jobs, but this shutdown is hampering our ability to function effectively.”
The letter cited several areas of concern to the industry, including:
- Hardships faced by FAA staff, air traffic controllers and others aviation industry professionals working without pay.
- Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel also are working without pay and facing financial hardships.
- With fewer transportation security officers available to screen travelers at checkpoints, wait times will grow and larger crowds will be forced to congregate in public areas of airports. In some cases, checkpoints may have to be closed as a result of the shutdown.
- The suspension of air traffic controller training, slowing the arrival of new workers to a system already at a 30-year low.
- The curtailing of general aviation aircraft certification and work on safety-related airworthiness directives.
- The prevention of the FAA from issuing new student pilot certificates, halting training for prospective pilots.
“This partial shutdown has already inflicted real damage to our nation’s aviation system and the impacts will only worsen over time,” the letter concludes. “We urge you to act quickly to resolve these issues.”
Read the full letter from the aviation groups to government leaders.
“General aviation is among the nation’s most regulated industries, with daily oversight and essential services provided by a host of federal agencies,” National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen noted in a summary the association published earlier in the week, detailing the shutdown’s specific impact for general aviation. “These disruptions to services are already visible, and if history is a guide, the impact from the shutdown could increase as the shutdown continues. Like all aviation stakeholders, we want the president and Congress to come to an agreement that ends the shutdown, and restores the critical services needed by the aviation community.”
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ManyDecadesGA says
January 17, 2019 at 9:58 amPerhaps let’s look at the positive side of an FAA partial shutdown.
Maybe it could spur a massive increasing shift toward further “Delegation”, or maybe getting a driver’s license to finally be adequate for supporting a 3rd Class medical substitute, or getting FAA out of the business of requiring attending boring irrelevant DER/AR seminars, … maybe it will even slow or stop a few new illogical unnecessary regulatory burdens,… and best of all, it might finally spur massive ATS reform, and budget cuts, long overdue at FAA? So maybe there’s a silver lining here, that can help the (hopefully) new FAA Administrator Steve Dickson (let’s hope he’s nominated and confirmed) finally make some progress in cleaning up the “Deep State” FAA? In the meantime, build that wall. Walls work just fine at military bases, powerplants, water supplies, jails, schools, and even at the Vatican. Mr. Schumer and Ms. Pelosi are both massively out of touch with the essential foundation of this country, as well as any of aviation’s real needs.
ManyDecadesGA says
January 12, 2019 at 11:59 amIt’s easy.
Just complain to Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer to fund critical border security including a wall. It could happen and be solved in a matter of minutes.
22 Million Illegal immigrants already in the US, costing US taxpayers over $184B is just nuts. Not even counting the added illegal border crossing related crime, drugs, human trafficking, and terrorist threat. This has to stop. Instead of those GA organizations writing to Mitch McConnell, and the President, they instead need to be writing to the utterly irresponsible Democrats, who caused this in the first place.
Doug H says
January 14, 2019 at 5:39 am@ManyDecadesGA, I couldn’t agree with you more. This is all on Democrats. Anything bad since Trump has been elected has been on Democrats. All they do is lie and obstruct. I was going to say almost word for word what you said…It was much easier to simply agree. It seems logical that most people should agree. Write, call, demand that Democrats get off their obstructionist *sses and quit being babies. They all wanted this wall until it was Trump getting it finally done. They are not Americans nor are they looking out for Americans. They all need to be fired.
Jay Carpenter says
January 14, 2019 at 5:50 amBuck passing, or passing the buck, is the act of attributing to another person or group, one’s own responsibility. It is often used to refer to a strategy in power politics.
As long as there is a partisan agenda, THAT is the problem. We are all to blame, not just one political party. It starts with the President and goes down to City Hall.
Harry Truman placed a placard on his desk in the White House. It read, “The Buck Stops Here”. I wonder what ever happened to that ornament?
Doug H says
January 14, 2019 at 6:10 amNice try Jay. Right out of the Democrat Handbook. Divert. This shutdown is because we finally have a leader that is intent on doing the “right thing” for our country. He tried to get the Democrats to do it as well. I watched the meeting. It was live on TV.
They obstructed, not for a logical reason. But only because it’s Trump making the move. There are tons of video of these same obstructionists making the same pleas for tougher border security. A wall. Dick Durbin even said the wall Obama wanted wasn’t tall enough or long enough…And now they pull this? Hypocrites? Nah, I think more like liars and self serving children. The buck does indeed stop. With them.
Trump won partly because of his call to finally protect our country. Which means the majority want it done. I want it done. If you want open borders move to an open border country.
Would Harry Truman sell our Uranium Rights to the Russians? Hillary did….Did the buck stop with Obama on that? Snowflake logic only works on snowflakes. Nice try.