Air Traffic Controllers

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me pick up where the Republican leader left off on air traffic controllers.

The biggest, busiest airport in the United States is O'Hare, when you count both passengers and cargo traffic. After the government reopened, I went to O'Hare, and I met with the air traffic controllers. I have known them for years, dating back to the first government shutdown during President Trump's first administration.

There are roughly 10,500 air traffic controllers nationwide in America. We need 14,000. What does that mean if you are understaffed by that 40 percent figure?

It means that those who are presently working work extraordinarily long hours. In fact, the normal routine at O'Hare with the air traffic controllers who manage that airport is to work 6 days out of 7, 10 hours each day. So in one of the most stressful possible jobs in America, they are working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. The stress is overwhelming.

I told them that, with the closure of the government behind us, we have to do something, and I hope we agree on a bipartisan basis to do it quickly. We need not only more air traffic controllers, well-trained and ready to work--and that will take some time to find those people-- but we also need new technology. We waited too long. We have talked about this issue over and over again. It is time to do something.

I want to salute those air traffic controllers. They have gone through a tough weekend, with Americans traveling for Thanksgiving, and I know that many of them have worked hard to make sure we have safe air travel.

I want to echo the comments of the Republican leader. This is an issue that should not go away. It is an issue we should address.

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