Airline and cargo company chief executives on Sunday pushed back against the impact of the partial government shutdown on the aviation system, saying TSA officers and other federal aviation workers have been caught in a cycle of unpaid status and operational disruption. In an open letter to Congress published online and in The Washington Post, the executives urged lawmakers to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security and to embrace a bipartisan solution to ensure pay for workers during the shutdown.
The letter was signed by the CEOs of major airline companies including American, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue, and by leaders of cargo carriers UPS, FedEx and Atlas Air. The CEOs said air travel has become “the political football amid another government shutdown,” arguing that the standoff has created direct financial pressure for employees responsible for aviation security and related functions.
The CEOs told Congress that lawmakers should pass three separate measures they said would protect aviation staffing and pay. They urged passage of the Aviation Funding Solvency Act and the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which the letter said would guarantee that air traffic controllers are paid regardless of the government’s funding status. The executives also asked Congress to advance the Keep America Flying Act, which the letter said would extend similar protections to Transportation Security Administration officers tasked with screening travelers and providing security.
The letter tied the funding dispute to workers’ ability to meet basic expenses, saying, “It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid.” The executives said the partial shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, and that the shutdown comes amid continuing efforts to resolve the broader disagreement over DHS funding.
Democrats in Congress have said they would not fund the department until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations, following fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year. The letter described the current DHS funding lapse as the third shutdown in less than a year in which TSA workers were temporarily without pay, followed by a later need to wait for back pay once the government reopens.
As the partial shutdown has dragged on, the CEOs said airport travelers are seeing longer security lines at an increasing number of U.S. airports. The letter said TSA and Homeland Security have blamed Democrats for the long lines, and it pointed to a claim by Homeland Security posted to its X account that more than 300 TSA agents have quit since the start of the shutdown.