Legal, Ethical, and Practical Impacts of Unpaid Essential Workers

(EAST COAST, UNITED STATES) As the federal shutdown nears the 35-day mark, flight operations along the East Coast are straining under mounting staff shortages and long waits, reviving memories of the 2018–2019 standoff that snarled air travel and helped force a resolution. This time, officials say the pressure is arriving sooner and hitting harder.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s network has reported a surge in callouts among air traffic controllers, while airports from New York to Washington report longer lines at security checkpoints as officers from the Transportation Security Administration continue reporting to duty as essential employees but without pay.

Legal framework and what “excepted” work means

Federal law still requires thousands of workers needed to protect life and property to stay on the job during a funding lapse. The Antideficiency Act allows limited exceptions so certain work can go on, even when pay cannot be issued until Congress acts.

This framework is lawful but carries a heavy cost for the people doing the work. Unions representing both air traffic controllers and TSA officers say the policy forces staff to choose between showing up without a paycheck and taking new jobs to cover rent and groceries, a bind that can drain the workforce exactly when it’s needed most.

According to the Office of Personnel Management guidance on shutdown furloughs, employees in “excepted” roles are required to work but cannot be paid until appropriations resume, a rule that has placed aviation safety on a knife-edge in prolonged disputes (OPM guidance).

Current operational impacts

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy warned the FAA would “stop traffic” before it allows an emergency to unfold, as staffing gaps ripple through the system.

• On a recent day, 84% of flight delays were tied to staffing issues, Duffy said.
• The FAA has reported shortages at multiple facilities handling dense traffic, with pressure especially acute at busy East Coast centers.
• As of this week:
  • Half of the nation’s “Core 30” airports—the busiest hubs—have too few controllers.
  • 80% of New York area airports are affected.

TSA checkpoints show a similar pattern: morale is weakening and waits have stretched to three hours in some locations, including Houston. Officials have urged travelers to arrive earlier and pack patience.

Human toll and personal stories

The human cost is central to the dispute.

• Nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 TSA officers are working without pay across the United States 🇺🇸.
• Unions report rising numbers of employees seeking temporary work in retail and delivery to bridge the gap.
• Others are calling in sick as bank accounts run dry.

A TSA official, Stahl, described the stakes: “I heard a story recently… from a young TSA officer… She had $40 in her bank account. She had to choose between paying for diapers for her child and paying for food.”

Secretary Duffy expressed a similar concern: “They’re confronted with a decision: do I put food on my kids’ table, do I put gas in the car, do I pay my rent or do I go to work and not get paid?”

Safety, unions, and historical context

Union leaders from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the American Federation of Government Employees say the situation is unsafe and unfair.

• Their argument: stress and fatigue can undermine focus, a core safety concern when managing high-traffic corridors and crowded checkpoints.
• They have pressed lawmakers to pass funding bills immediately.

History is instructive. During the 2018–2019 shutdown:

• The standoff reached 35 days, culminating in widespread callouts that reduced capacity along the East Coast and caused cascading delays.
• The TSA callout rate hit 10%, more than three times normal levels just before that shutdown ended.
• Controllers at key facilities reported fatigue and burnout—many point to those weeks as a “tipping point” when the system slowed to a crawl.

Signs repeating in 2025

With the current 2025 shutdown under President Biden approaching the same duration, industry groups see familiar warning signs:

• Delays rising, staffing rosters thin, and relief not in sight.
• Unions and airline trade groups have issued urgent messages to Congress, warning that “a system under stress must slow down”—an indication that schedule cuts, reroutes, and extended ground holds are likely if paychecks do not resume.

FAA managers are juggling voluntary overtime and drafting contingency plans to reduce strain on the busiest sectors, but crews say these measures have limits when the pipeline of qualified staff is already lean and training backlogs persist.

Industry response and limits

At major hubs, airlines have rolled out small acts of support for federal workers:

• Offering meals and vouchers in break rooms to TSA officers and controllers traveling to and from work.
• American, United, and Alaska have confirmed programs at select airports.

These steps underscore how the air system depends on public servants who are bearing the brunt of the budget standoff. Airline executives emphasize their limits: they can ease pain at the margins but cannot replace paychecks or staff control towers. The cost of delays and cancellations is rising for carriers and passengers alike, yet the industry has little control over the root cause.

Why the law results in unpaid but required work

The current approach stems from the same legal framework used in 2019:

• The Antideficiency Act bars agencies from spending money not appropriated by Congress.
• It permits “excepted” activities to continue to protect life and property.
• That’s why controllers and TSA officers are deemed essential employees and told to report even when pay is halted.

Unions have challenged parts of this approach, arguing that while permitted by statute, forcing people to work without pay is unfair and endangers safety when prolonged. Their message is both moral and operational: working without pay invites errors, turnover, and system breakdowns.

Day-to-day management and uneven impacts

FAA and TSA have asked the public for patience as they manage disruptions:

• Travelers in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Jacksonville are seeing holds that ripple through morning rush hours.
• There are occasional bailouts to nearby facilities when staffing is too thin to maintain normal separation.
• Controllers describe a triage-like rhythm: prioritize safety while trimming capacity to match staff.
• TSA officers report extended shifts and last-minute reassignments, leading to longer lines at some checkpoints and uneven wait times day to day.

Experts who studied 2018–2019 say the pattern is repeating earlier this time. With an older workforce and training pipelines still catching up, the system may be less resilient.

“The difference this time is that people remember what it felt like,” said a union representative familiar with staffing at New York terminals. “They know how close we came, and they can see the same markers—short rosters, stretched shifts, fatigue—stacking up again.”

Politics, rationing, and possible next steps

In Washington, lawmakers from both parties say they want to protect aviation safety, but talks have produced no breakthrough. Meanwhile, travelers face a quieter form of rationing:

• Longer taxi times
• Metered departures
• Growing delays on bad weather days

What looks like a drizzle of interruptions on any single morning feels like a storm by week’s end, with missed connections and late-night arrivals becoming common for some routes.

The FAA’s promise to “stop traffic” before risking safety is meant to reassure, but it also signals a hard choice if the shutdown lingers.

The human reality and the tipping point

Pressure is heaviest on those in headsets and uniforms:

• Controllers field calls from childcare providers and landlords while balancing complex approaches into busy airspace.
• TSA officers split bills, carpool to save fuel, and lean on family.

Unions have renewed calls for automatic pay protection during funding lapses, arguing that safety roles should never be left unpaid. Advocates point to 2019’s clear record: once callouts pass a threshold, the system slows sharply, and the political calculus in Congress often shifts only after the pain becomes public.

For now, whether the tipping point arrives before a funding deal remains uncertain. The longer the shutdown lasts, the greater the chance crews will shrink further as employees accept outside work, relocate, or exhaust savings.

If pressure keeps rising:

1. FAA facilities could reduce flow rates.
2. TSA checkpoints could close lanes.
3. The system would remain safe but operate more slowly—echoing measures used in the last shutdown.

Current state and takeaway

Across terminals this week, strain is visible but not yet chaotic:

• Lines bend around corners in the early morning.
• Flights depart a bit behind schedule.
• Controllers trade overtime and extra coffee to get through shifts.

The system is still moving, but more carefully—reflecting a reality unions, managers, and travelers all recognize: without paychecks, resilience fades.

The lesson from 2019 is not abstract. It lives in the memories of the people guiding planes and checking bags, and it is shaping predictions now as the shutdown grinds toward the limits of what unpaid labor can sustain.