By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Major U.S. airlines on Thursday urged Congress to pay air traffic controllers in the event of a partial government shutdown after the industry suffered a major disruption during a 43-day standoff last year.
The U.S. government could again face a partial shutdown as soon as Saturday due to an ongoing dispute over the Homeland Security Department.
“Congress needs to understand the real-world consequences that impact the American public if planes cannot fly due to a shutdown,” Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and other major carriers, said.
“As we saw three months ago, shutdowns place significant strain on the entire aviation industry, impacting travelers, shippers and the federal employees who keep our aviation system safe.”
In December, a U.S. House of Representatives committee voted unanimously to approve legislation aiming to prevent aviation disruptions during government shutdowns by ensuring air traffic controllers and other key workers are paid.
Major airlines strongly backed the air traffic control pay legislation, noting last month that the 43-day U.S. government shutdown and government-imposed flight cuts disrupted 6 million passengers and 50,000 flights because of rising air traffic controller absences. It also had an economic impact of $7 billion, more than $150 million per day, airlines said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, citing safety concerns, imposed unprecedented flight cuts at 40 major U.S. airports on November 7, leading to 7,100 flight cancellations and affecting 2.3 million passengers.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. Many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown led to them working without pay.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Franklin Paul and Bill Berkrot)
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