The head of the ATC union says it will take weeks to recover

The head of the air traffic controllers union said Wednesday that it could take “weeks” to recover from the effects of the government shutdown.

The holiday season will be particularly affected by the shortage of air traffic controllers, who lost their first full paycheck last week, Nick Daniels, president of the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” The Department of Transport has reported increased delays and ground stops as a result of the closure, which is now in its fifth consecutive week.

“To somehow understand that we could go into the holiday season under a government shutdown, I can’t even begin to predict what the impacts are going to be across this country,” Daniels said. “Three-hour TSA lines will be the least of our worries.”

Air traffic controllers and airport security monitors are among the employees required to work during the lockdown as essential employees, although they do not receive regular salaries. The shutdown, which entered its 36th full day on Wednesday, is now the longest in history.

Even if the shutdown ended today, the effects could take much longer to play out among air traffic controllers and could pose challenges for the industry as a whole, Daniels added.

“We’ve been in this shutdown for a long time at this point, and I don’t think we’ll actually see the damage until well after the shutdown is over, where we see air traffic controllers resigning from this profession and profession,” he said. He added: “Even if they open the government today, we will not see the wage we deserve, which we rightfully earned more than two to two and a half months ago.”

Daniels said there are 300 to 400 fewer air traffic controllers today than in 2019, when the government was shut down for 35 days. This closure ended after a shortage of air traffic controllers led to severe disruptions at American airports.

“We’re going to do everything we can and be the professionals that show up and try to move the plane through the airspace — and at the same time, we can’t make the impossible possible if it’s going to put us in an impossible situation,” Daniels said.

Earlier this week, Transport Minister Sean Duffy said on “Squawk Box” that he could “completely shut down airspace” if the lockdown continues. He added that the industry is currently 2,000 to 3,000 consoles short of the ideal staffing target.

“We will not allow people to travel, [but] We’re not there at this point. “It’s just huge delays,” Duffy said.