US President Donald Trump on Monday demanded air traffic controllers return to work as travellers endured another day of flight cancellations, which the administration ordered to manage staff shortages during the government shutdown.
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Threatening to curtail the pay of any controller who did not go back, Trump said he would award US$10,000 bonuses to those who have not taken time off during the 41-day shutdown and would welcome the resignations of the rest.
“All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked’,” Trump wrote on social media. “REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY.”
The shutdown, the longest in US history, has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents to work without pay. Some are absent as they work second jobs or cannot afford childcare.
Some 20 per cent to 40 per cent of controllers have been absent on any given day at the 30 biggest US airports during the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week. Shares of the biggest US airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, turned negative after Trump’s social media post.
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Officials said it was unclear how the White House could deny pay under the controllers’ union contract once the government reopens, as Trump threatened, or how the president would pay for the proposed US$10,000 bonuses.