The government shutdown is completing its first full month, and airlines have just about had enough.
Aviation industry leaders are urging Congress to end the shutdown out of concern for the wellbeing of air traffic controllers working without pay, as well as on air travel ahead of a busy holiday season.
American Airlines confirmed to Fortune that CEO Robert Isom was in attendance at the Thursday meeting. The airline said air traffic controllers working without pay was “unacceptable.”
“Congress needs to reach a bipartisan agreement to re-open the government as quickly as possible to pay our air traffic controller, [Transportation Security Administration], and [Customs and Border Protection] colleagues,” the airline told Fortune in a statement. “The quickest way to end this shutdown and get these workers paid is by passing a clean continuing resolution. A prolonged shutdown will lead to more delays and cancellations—and the American people, especially during the busy holiday season, deserve better.”
“It’s a world where they are now not only leaning on each other, they’re leaning on getting other jobs, going to their primary job in the day, and then in the evening, going out and having to do some level of a secondary job,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told Fortune.
