“I used to have about four controllers retire a day before the shutdown. I’m now up to 15 to 20 a day are retiring,” Duffy told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” “So, it’s going to be harder for me to come back after the shutdown and have more controllers controlling the airspace.”
“So, this is going to live on in air travel, well beyond the time frame that this government opens back up.”
Air traffic controllers are set to miss their second consecutive paycheck on Tuesday, with many missing work and taking second jobs. Duffy added that 81 controller staffing shortages were reported at facilities across the country on Saturday, an increase of 20 such instances relative to Oct. 31.


20 a day right now, and that number is going to escalate. They’re working without pay, bills and rent/mortgage are overdue, savings are disappearing, and trump has said he thinks government workers who are working through the shutdown don’t deserve to be paid for that work when it ends. It’s a cascade effect, where every retirement increases pressure on those who remain, some of whom will also chose to leave, increasing pressure, etc.
At some point, there isn’t going to be much to stop the cascade, and we were already short on ATC recruitment before all this.
It’s also a very stressful job to be doing without all that. There are not a lot of people that can do things without any compensation.
oh yeah and theyve already been getting fucked this year. id be out too