The largest pilot union in the world is urging President Donald Trump to put an end to the government shutdown. The Air Line Pilots Asso...
The largest pilot union in the world is urging President Donald Trump to put an end to the government shutdown.
The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 61,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines, wrote a letter to the President warning that the continuing impasse was threatening ‘the safety, security, and efficiency of our national airspace system.’
‘The nation’s airspace system is a complex transportation network that involves government and industry partnerships to function properly, and the disruptions being caused by the shutdown are threatening the safe operations of this network,’ according to the letter written by Captain Joe DePete, the President of the union.
‘The government agency partners in the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have dual roles.
‘They are both regulators and service providers
‘When any of their responsibilities are placed on pause due to a shutdown there are safety, security and efficiency gaps that immediately emerge.’
The partial government shutdown is affecting the Federal Aviation Administration, which employs air traffic controllers, maintenance personnel, and airline security staff.
During the shutdown, they are being forced to work without receiving a paycheck.
DePete writes that this places undue stress on these employees.
‘They are dutifully providing safety of life services while facing increasingly difficult financial pressures to provide for those dependent on their paycheck,’ he writes.
‘The pressure these civil servants are facing at home should not be ignored.
‘At some point, these dedicated federal employees will encounter personal financial damages that will take a long time from which to recover, if at all.’
The letter, while addressed to Trump, was also carbon copied to the top Congressional leadership - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of the Democrats; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of the Republicans.
On Friday, CNN reported that hundreds of TSA screeners who have also been forced to work without pay during the shutdown called out from work from at least four major airports.
The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 61,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines, wrote a letter to the President warning that the continuing impasse was threatening ‘the safety, security, and efficiency of our national airspace system.’
The letter was also carbon copied to the top Congressional leadership - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of the Democrats; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of the Republicans
As many as 170 screeners called out each day this past week from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, the head of the national TSA employee union, Hydrick Thomas, told CNN.
Hours after the CNN report, DHS denied that there were mass call-outs, insisting ‘security effectiveness will not be compromised and performance standards will not change.’
A DHS spokesperson lashed out on a personal Twitter account, following an earlier report the non-payment of some 800,000 government employees could harshly effect travelers during the tough period due to the TSA being affected.
Alleging 'fake news' had 'grossly misrepresented' the figures related to the air travel industry, Tyler Q. Houlton denied that it was creating a vulnerability and less workers strive to do more than usual.
He posted online: 'Security operations at airports have not been impacted by a non-existent sick out.'
His angry response was followed by an official statement from the TSA which admitted more workers than usual were quoting illness when taking days off, but appeared to put it down the holiday season.
'Call outs began over the Holiday period and have increased, but are causing minimal impact given there are 51,739 employees supporting the screening process,' the tweet said.
'TSA is grateful to the agents who show up to work, remain focused on the mission and respectful to the traveling public as they continue the important work necessary to secure the nation's transportation systems.'
The partial government shutdown is entering its third week with no end in sight.
Trump pledged on Sunday not to bend in his demand for a wall along the southern border with Mexico but said the barrier could be made of steel instead of concrete as a potential compromise with Democrats who refuse to fund it.
Trump threatened again, without providing specifics on where the funding would originate, to declare a national emergency as an alternative way to build the wall, depending on the outcome of talks in the coming days.
Why not address it to Schumer and Pelosi? They are the ones causing the shutdown with changing stories and broken promises.
ReplyDeleteIf accidents do happen they are the ones at fault.
The fact that Illegals cost the US $119bn per year which could be alleviated with a $6bn wall seems to have escaped the US citizens.