Government shutdown adds stress to air traffic controllers at Denver International Airport

There were more flight delays on Tuesday as travelers withstood one of the first significant impacts of the government shutdown.

Denver International Airport, while listed as a potential spot for problems, managed to escape them for the most part. But the nation struggled on with about 2300 flight delays by Tuesday afternoon, according to FlightAware.

"I don't like all this bickering. I really don't. But what I try to do is just pray," said Pastor Bo Sosa of the Thrive Church in Federal Heights as he departed Denver for Ethiopia, where they run an academy for children.

"You know it's sad that all this is going on… It's sad that we can't come to an agreement."

A week plus into the government shutdown, there is no sign of agreement in Congress. Air traffic controllers, deemed essential, are not furloughed, but considered essential. That means they have to show up for work, but are not receiving pay. They are able to call in sick. Some are.

"I would say that morale has definitely been impacted primarily because it's already a stressful profession. Where we have to show up 100% of the time and be at 100%," said Stephanie Winder, Northwest Regional Vice President for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.  

"We are about 3000 air traffic controllers short throughout the system," said Winder. "This is just an unnecessary distraction. We have a very stressful. We take our job very seriously. We're highly trained professionals. We're the best, we're the brightest."

Workers are expected to get retroactive pay after there's a budget deal. Although President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, the topic of retroactive pay, "It depends on who we're talking about." He later said he'll follow the law after also saying workers may be taken care of in "a different way."

Working without pay is an additional stress on people already working a stressful job.

"That's a lot on your back, and I think pay notwithstanding, it's a job that takes you away from your family, it kind of makes you almost a slave, and it's a tough job," said aviation consultant Mike Boyd.

"We were short controllers before. It's been massively ignored," explained Boyd. "Well, now we're short controllers, and we have controllers saying we're not getting paid, so I might as well take a sick day. I don't blame them."

Winder believes the nation is still 3000 air traffic controllers short. About 2000 entered training this year, the most ever, but the washout rate is high. Boyd is critical of past leadership.

"The Department of Transportation has been a wonderfully bipartisan place to play politics."  

At DIA, people are prepared for delays. Dennis Hughes of Westminster made it back from Missouri on time. "You can only commend those folks who continue to do their job," said Hughes.

As to Congress, he said, "You would hope that eventually they will get their act together. That everybody will come together and do what's right."

But no end seems close, and more delays are likely.