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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland-area air traffic controllers are dipping into savings, talking with banks about loans and starting to think about second jobs as the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week. “Mortgages are due on Saturday,” said Dan Leipold, a long-time controller at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. “People have to pay for childcare and groceries. It’s a struggle.” Leipold, alongside about a half-dozen of his colleagues, was greeting passengers and handing out informational pamphlets Tuesday at Cleveland Hopkins, trying to generate support from travelers for an end to the shutdown. It was part of a larger effort, with air traffic controllers soliciting support from the public at 20 airports nationwide. The shutdown began Oct. 1 after Congress couldn’t agree on a funding resolution to keep the government operating. Air traffic controllers, along with Transportation Security Administration screeners and other federal employees, are considered essential workers, which means they’re required to work during the shutdown. But they aren’t being paid. Most controllers got a partial paycheck two weeks ago. Today, Oct. 28, marked the first pay period with no salary. “It’s really setting in now,” said Drew MacQueen, a long-time controller at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center in Oberlin, which monitors airspace from Maryland to Michigan. “There’s a lot of stress right now, a lot of uncertainty.” Many of his colleagues can miss one paycheck, he said. “No one can miss two,” said MacQueen, who is also vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association’s Great Lakes region. Related: ‘We’re a rope in this tug of war’: Cleveland air traffic controller pleads for end to shutdown U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy joined U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno in Cleveland Monday and the two met with MacQueen, Leipold and their colleagues about the shutdown. “They wanted to see the impacts of the shutdown on us,” said Leipold. “They both said they want to get the government open.” Earlier this week, Duffy acknowledged that air traffic control staffing shortages have increased during the shutdown and are affecting air travel. On Sunday, for example, 44% of flight delays were attributed to staffing issues – compared to about 5% of the delays so far this year. Delays in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere over the weekend have been attributed to staffing shortages. “If we have issues, we will slow it down,” said Duffy, speaking Tuesday at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. “We will stop it. And so I don’t want anyone to think that it’s not safe; it’s just that you may not be traveling on the schedule that you anticipated because of this government shutdown.” Traveler Barbara Gallo said she faced no delays as she flew home to Cleveland from Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. Still, she said, she wants an end to the shutdown. “I’m supportive of all the government coming back to work and stopping this nonsense,” said Gallo. “They all need to come together, do their jobs and negotiate.”
