The government shutdown.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

Is it impacting you, and if so, in what way? I'm hearing of future conventions (government related) getting cancelled and from more than one neighbor in the 85006 who works at the airport - apparently air traffic controllers won't be being paid soon. Top that off with the fact that 1/5th of them are currently retirement eligible and I see the potential for aviation disaster(s). I'm sure more impacts will be coming as this continues but these are two I have to offer up. Anyone else? Rob

[sweetana3]

We have allowed extra time at the airport. But so far that is all the impact. Was a Federal employee for 31 years and so many live paycheck to paycheck. They are like everyone else. I personally think that there should be no exempted employees. No refunds, no phone lines, no Secret Service!, nothing. The doors are closed and no one is home. Then let the politicians listen to the screams of the people who elected them.

[bae]

I help run a small airport. In the past, these government shutdowns have cost us dearly, as key people at the FAA needed to sign off on projects were not available, and so projects slipped into the next budget cycle, got delayed, and the costs escalated.

Our runway repaving project has tripled in cost due to shutdowns in the past.

This shutdown is no different - stuff isn't getting signed, so work won't be getting done this year.

[Lainey]

It's made me realize how powerful TSA workers are - if they all just decided not to come to work it would throw the country into chaos and this shutdown would end immediately.

[gimmethesimplelife]

It's made me realize how powerful TSA workers are - if they all just decided not to come to work it would throw the country into chaos and this shutdown would end immediately.

I could (possibly depending on how long this shutdown in fact drags on and how acrimonious things get, meaning I believe the rhetoric is only starting to amp up) realistically see this happening. Intriguing times for someone such as myself who essentially never really fit into this country or it's beliefs. Interesting to myself also that I am taking no joy whatsoever in this and wish for a prompt end to the shutdown and a non-violent end to the Trump Presidency and a start to the years it will take to fix the damage The Thug Of Orange has caused.

At any rate, from what I have heard from neighbors who work at Sky Harbour (The Phoenix Airport) TSA agents are starting to quit - not in huge numbers (yet) but it's taking longer to get through security lines and the morale is utterly non-existent. Way to go Mr. Trump - obviously aviation safety and the lives of the flying public mean a great deal to you (sarcasm fully intended and nowhere near appropriately strong enough). I have some choice words for the man in Viennese dialect this morning but I will spare you'all that.

Right now holding US citizenship is all about minimizing damage/damage control. I see no quick end to this - neither side seems willing to budge a fraction of a centimeter. I spoke to my 76 year old Mother yesterday - someone who lives in guilt of the Holocaust and the millions murdered given her prior Austrian citizenship and her upbringing in Austria and what does she have to say about Trump? She hopes he gets "taken out" - this coming from a woman who tries to sweep up household insects with paper to release them outside and not kill them. This right here says so much to me - even someone that gentle and kind has had her fill. For you Conservatives, one elderly woman thinking this way is nothing, I give you that. The problem is that more and more people with each passing day are thinking in these terms. I personally actually do not wish for him to be taken out but rather non-violent impeachment. I've tried to tell others around me - repulsive as the man is, he is still a human being and evil though he may be, he is not in the league of Adolf Hilter. Given that I am so anti police brutality and how US police to this day can murder at will with often no consequence whatsoever, it would be the height of hypocricy (sp?) for me to support anything other than non-violent removal from his current office. There are people in my neighborhood who think I'm being too kind and too soft and that my thinking leads to yet more victimization of innocent people.

But I still hold to this day the best option is non-violent removal from office, even if this stance does not win me friends. What can I say - I'm a humanitarian, even where someone like Donald J Trump is concerned. Rob

[bae]

... TSA agents are starting to quit - not in huge numbers (yet) but it's taking longer to get through security lines and the morale is utterly non-existent. Way to go Mr. Trump - obviously aviation safety and the lives of the flying public mean a great deal to you ...

I am unconvinced that TSA has anything much to do with aviation safety or the lives of the flying public....

[LDAHL]

It's made me realize how powerful TSA workers are - if they all just decided not to come to work it would throw the country into chaos and this shutdown would end immediately.

I wonder if that’s what PATCO thought.

[Lainey]

I wonder if that’s what PATCO thought.

Ironically, with the sophisticated technology of modern aircraft, the air traffic controller function has become less critical.
But if anyone wants to forego TSA and book a flight on "Fly At Your Own Risk" airlines they can try it. It could be just like the good old days, walk right onto the tarmac and bring your cigarettes, booze and weapons with you. (was a skit about that from a comedian whose name I don't recall).


I agree that TSA is not the high level security we'd like to believe it to be. (although I did witness a bomb-sniffing dog in action this week for all flyers in a terminal when I went to pick up a relative at Sky Harbor in Phoenix - hadn't seen that before, wondered if it had something to do with the short-staffing due to TSA workers calling in sick.)
And that other post 9/11 changes, including fortification of the pilot's door, have a greater impact.

Back to the topic.

[ApatheticNoMore]

they have a job to go back to eventually. Like I said I know people in full crisis mode now about contracts potentially ending and no they have no job to go back to. They have contemplated driving for Uber. I wonder how many government workers have contemplated driving for Uber? So the government workers don't have money for one paycheck even though they can eventually (though there sometimes is a delay) collect unemployment. Meanwhile reality on the ground is the EDD here says it is taking people here an average of 6-12 months to get a job. Now newsflash: unemployment insurance itself only lasts 6 months (and add up how many missed paychecks 6-12 months of unemployment is, it's not one) And they get to hear about what a good economy it is to boot. How do the rest of us not just die I wonder since those government workers are all going to perish from 1 missed paycheck. All keep on the good fight I don't know how.

[jp1]

I agree that TSA is not the high level security we'd like to believe it to be. (although I did witness a bomb-sniffing dog in action this week for all flyers in a terminal when I went to pick up a relative at Sky Harbor in Phoenix - hadn't seen that before, wondered if it had something to do with the short-staffing due to TSA workers calling in sick.)

I don't think that was because of the shutdown. They've been using them regularly at SFO for a couple of years now.