CLEVELAND — A group of Northeast Ohio air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals will be visible in passenger terminals on Tuesday afternoon at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The group will be passing out leaflets explaining how the ongoing government shutdown is negatively affecting the national aviation system and the workers who keep it running safely.
The air traffic controllers will be passing out the leaflets from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The protest comes as Tuesday marks the first zero-paycheck day for air traffic controllers, even as they work mandatory six days a week and 10 hours a day.
As necessary federal workers, air traffic controllers come to work even if the federal government has not passed legislation to pay them.
Before the shutdown, the FAA was already dealing with a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. Since the shutdown began, 250 FAA facilities have reported staffing problems. That's more than four times the number reported during the same period last year.
The longer the shutdown lasts, the more financial pressure workers say they feel.
"It's the opposite of what they should be focused on," Nick Daniels with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said. "We should be focused on how do we move forward and take care of one another. Air traffic controllers didn't start a shutdown. We don't end the shutdown. Our elected officials do."
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport has created a free pantry of food items to assist air traffic controllers, TSA officers and other employees affected by the federal government shutdown. The pantry is set up in the airport's TSA common area, and federal workers are already taking advantage of the program.
As for passengers, longer security lines and delayed flights are possible during this shutdown.
All passengers are being asked to arrive at the airport early and monitor their flights.
