Friday marks day 10 of the government shutdown and the first day that federal workers will not receive a full paycheck.
That includes air traffic controllers and TSA employees at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“A lot of workers are going to forgo paying a lot of bills, they’re going to try to hold on to as much cash as they possibly can so they can maintain and try to budget themselves as much as they can,” said John Hubert.
Hubert is the president of AFGE Local 558, the union representing TSA workers across South Florida. He said local airports haven’t been impacted by call-outs, but anticipates that could change if the shutdown continues.
“This is just the first time that they’re not paid a full check, so I anticipate that might start happening later on,” Hubert said.
Some travelers have already dealt with delays.
“Stress, a lot of stress, it’s certainly caused us a lot of grief in the last 24 hours,” said Ryan Miner.
Miner and his wife Jesse Rademacher were traveling from Missouri to Madrid. Their flight was canceled in Dallas, rerouted to Miami, where they were left stranded. They questioned if the government shutdown is impacting their travel.
“We’re all speculating that that’s the issue but again nobody is willing to say anything to us really as to why everything is being cancelled and delayed, and all that but obviously that is the big news right now, so it makes sense,” Miner said.
Other travelers said they haven’t noticed a difference.
“I haven’t had any issues going there, so hopefully we don’t have any issues going back,” said Jhameika Young, who was traveling to Chicago on Friday.
On Friday, Federal Aviation Administration leadership sent out a memo thanking staff for working during the shutdown, especially air traffic controllers. The memo said “air traffic controllers are still required to report to work and carry out their critical duties. The safety and efficiency of our airspace depend on them.”
Miner and Rademacher hope their travel back home wont be impacted in two weeks.
“I was worried about that so I brought my work laptop so that if I do get stuck in Spain I can try to work a little bit,” Rademacher said.
The government shut down will extend into next week, with the Senate not planning to return until Tuesday afternoon.
