Shutdown Stifles Second Paycheck For Aviation Workers Feeling ‘Desperate Need’

If Tim Lindsey and his colleagues do their jobs correctly, you’ll never know they’re there. But even if you don’t see them, and if you plan to fly anytime in the next few weeks, you certainly want them showing up to work. 

They’re the federal workers who investigate plane crashes, maintain the equipment on an airfield, ensure that the landing systems and radars used by pilots are working correctly and run the communications systems used by air traffic controllers. Until now, Lindsey says his coworkers have been showing up to work, despite not being paid. At the end of last week, though, $0 pay stubs began trickling in, marking the second missed paycheck since the government shutdown began on Oct. 1. Perhaps that might change soon, as the Senate voted on Sunday to approve a tentative deal to reopen the government.

Lindsey is based out of Waco and has worked in the federal government for 18 years, but he spoke with the Observer in his capacity as the local leader of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union. Down two paychecks, Lindsey said he believes now is the time when families will have to start making tough decisions about whether they continue coming in to work for free. 

“We have people who felt the impact [of a missed paycheck] immediately,” Lindsey said. “One of the employees that I represent lives in Fort Worth, and she’s a brand new employee. … Anybody making that amount of money is typically living paycheck to paycheck.” 

Lindsey is now charged with representing employees going through every level of financial stress; from households where both adults work for the federal government so all of their income has been paused, to families stuck paying for two places to live because the shutdown began right as they’d planned to move states, but furloughed HR employees can’t process the final papers needed to move locations. 

While most seasoned federal employees have been through a government shutdown before and know to keep a savings account ready, Lindsey said union leaders went into this shutdown feeling that it would be different than those in years past. Communications from Congress and industry leaders tended to imply that it was “going to take a while” to end, he said. However, he didn’t anticipate it stretching into the longest in U.S. history. 

“There was no reassurance from anybody that it was going to get [solved]. I just didn’t get that feeling,” he said. “But my mortgage is not getting paused. My electric bill is not getting paused. Cellphone, car insurance, credit card bills, you name it, I still have to make those payments.”

At Dallas Love Field, airport officials are attempting to fill the gap left by two missing paychecks. 

Love Field employs over 300 federal workers, Patrick Lark, a spokesperson for the airport, said. Since the beginning of November, the airport has urged travelers and community members to bring necessities like non-perishable foods and toiletries to a pantry the airport is operating for those affected by the shutdown. 

Love Field also ran a pantry during the 35-day government shutdown in 2018, and Lang said this year’s donation drive has already been extended a week to accommodate the record-breaking stalemate. 

“The reception from federal workers has been overwhelming, so the drive will be extended [another week]. And look, if we have to do another week, we may just have to do that. Because who knows when this shutdown will end,” Lang said. “As we get [items] we are giving them to our federal workers who, right now, some of them are in desperate need.” 

Lang said some of the “biggest ticket items” include supplies like diapers, baby formula and pet food. Still, as of Nov. 7, the airport had recorded only a few staffing-related flight cancellations or delays. He said that is a “testament” to the fact that people are still showing up to work. 

“They have been showing up, so the very least that we can do is show them that we care,” he said. 

Looking ahead, Lindsey said he is concerned about the stress the holidays will bring. On the one hand, he sees colleagues trimming down their Thanksgiving plans and draining savings accounts that would have been used for Christmas presents. On the other hand, he worries that the ramped-up travel demand the holidays bring won’t be met under the current conditions. 

Already, the Federal Aviation Administration has slashed traffic in 40 markets by 10%, resulting in flight cancellations and delays nationwide. Those disruptions could become worse if North Texas’ aviation employees begin calling out of work because they can’t afford to wait on Congress. 

“We don’t care about the politics of it all, about what reason the shutdown is going on or any of that,” Lindsey said. “What we are involved in is keeping the flying public safe, and what we need is for the shutdown to end so we can do that to the best of our ability. So our employees can come in to work and get paid.”