Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the ranking member on the Senate’s aviation subcommittee, is demanding the Transportation Department expand its $10,000 bonus to all air traffic controllers and FAA technicians who worked without pay during the government shutdown. The department said it would give the bonuses only to those who did not miss a day of work during the 44-day shutdown.
“Excluding 96 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce from this bonus is unfair, divisive and disrespectful to the over 20,000 dedicated Federal employees who worked under extremely stressful conditions to ensure our Nation Airspace System (NAS) was safe during the 2025 shutdown,” Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, first obtained by CBS News.
Duckworth told CBS News it was “an insult” to the controllers and said that “at a time when we should be doing everything we can to retain and recruit air traffic controllers, the Trump Administration choosing to punish and alienate 96% of the FAA’s controller and technician workforce is completely counterproductive.”
Last month, the Transportation Department announced 776 air traffic controllers and technicians would receive the $10,000 bonuses.
“These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press release announcing the bonuses. “This award is an acknowledgement of their dedication and a heartfelt appreciation for going above and beyond in service to the nation.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, or NATCA, the union representing controllers, expressed concern that only 311 of its members would receive a bonus.
“Although we agree that the work performed by these aviation safety professionals during the shutdown deserves recognition, praise, and our collective gratitude, we are concerned that thousands of air traffic controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown, ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo across the nation, while working without pay and uncertain of when they would receive compensation, were excluded from this recognition,” the union said in a statement to CBS News.
Similar bonuses are being given to TSA officers who didn’t miss a shift during the shutdown by the Department of Homeland Security.
Last week, during the busy Thanksgiving travel rush, CBS News pressed Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford about the controller bonuses, noting that some controllers said they had just missed a day or so of work because of child care needs or illness.
“The administrator and I have been very grateful through the course of the shutdown and recognizing some of the difficult circumstances our controllers were going through,” Duffy answered. “But, you know, we have to look and say, where’s the cutoff? And if you got 100% on your test, you get the sticker — that’s a scratch and sniff sticker — from the administration.”
Duffy stressed that all controllers received full pay, whether or not they worked during the shutdown.
“I think in the future, a lot of controllers would think, ‘Hey, there could be a reward when I show up, and I’m going to do all I can to be there every single day to serve the American people. And I know that I’ll get paid at one point, but if I have a perfect attendance record, there could be a reward at the end of that rainbow.'”
But Duckworth expressed concern that this could “create a perverse and dangerous incentive that threatens to weaken NAS safety during future shutdowns.”
“Controllers will have a financial incentive to avoid using authorized leave—even while suffering from illness that degrade controller performance and risk infecting an entire cadre of employees working a shift,” Duckworth wrote. “Air Traffic Organization jobs are extremely stressful for good reason: one mistake may be deadly. These dedicated professionals must be at their best when on the job, but your policy encourages Air Traffic Controllers and Technicians to show up regardless of their health. That is incredibly dangerous. Sick leave exists for a reason.”
The ranking Democrats on the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, and on the House Aviation Subcommittee, Rep. André Carson, have also called for all controllers to receive a bonus. They say that not rewarding the entire work force “is wrong.”
The Transportation Department has promised the $10,000 bonus payments will be paid by Dec. 9.
“[W]hen FAA is operating 3,800 fully certified controllers short of the agency’s staffing target, and Air Traffic Controller morale is rapidly plummeting to new lows, the absolute last thing the Trump administration should be doing is excluding thousands of dedicated patriots who worked without pay during the most recent shutdown from the $10,000 award,” Duckworth said.
She told Duffy, “I simply want you to act swiftly in issuing $10,000 awards to the entire dedicated Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce that patriotically worked without pay during the 2025 government shutdown to ensure the safety of the skies.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/duckworth-10000-bonus-air-traffic-controllers-faa-technicians/
