There are 45,000 US flights a day. Air traffic controllers are calling in sick. Can anyone do the math on this economic impact?

Photo above - hey kid, I told you . . . go back to your seat. We won't be landing until a week from Sunday because the air traffic controllers all called in sick . . . (screen shot courtesy of the film "Airplane")

If anything has the potential to short circuit the government shutdown, it's the air traffic controllers calling in sick. I confess I didn’t see this coming. They probably didn’t either, until Trump told them they were working without pay until the shutdown was over. And THEN added that back pay owed to them during the shutdown might not be paid. See link below.

This sick-out evidently started in Burbank, California. A bunch of Hollywood producers and tech moguls keep their private jets parked there. Those are all grounded now. The control tower is completely unstaffed, but probably not the cocktail lounge. Someone COULD take off, but it would be a federal crime. Corporate pilots aren’t going to risk losing their licenses, no matter how much Jerry Bruckheimer (producer) or Elon Musk bribes and threatens them.

Possibly more important than America’s economy screeching to halt (if this spreads), is the impact to the NFL and MLB. I’m being satiric here, but it’s true. Imagine if all the NFL games had to be cancelled because the visiting team couldn’t travel. Imagine if the baseball playoffs and World Series were put on indefinite hold. The mobile betting industry and Vegas would shut down too. Liquor sales might plummet. Doordash and Uber eats would be the only jobs left standing.

If this spreads, America won’t even be able to fly any migrant detainees to Wakanda or Zamunda for safekeeping. They will be stuck in Alligator Alcatraz forever. Unless THOSE guards start calling in sick, too.

It’s unclear whether Hollywood and the Artificial Intelligence moguls trying to put the rest of us out of work will blame democrats or republicans for this fiasco. On the one hand, they almost all hate Trump. On the other hand, they also hate higher taxes, which are a certainty if congress keeps dreaming up new stuff to spend on that we can’t afford. Everyone says all the new taxes should fall on corporations. We're all going to put out of work because of AI, anyway.

I have no travel plans this coming weekend. If I did, I would probably drive anyway, since flights are so expensive, and you get charged extra for carryon luggage and a bottle of water now. Next the bathrooms will probably be coin operated. Will we start hearing that are 10-mile-long traffic jams because all the flights are grounded? Maybe the toll booth attendants will start a sick-out too.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Air traffic controller shortages lead to canceled flights, delays nationwide

exchrist · 36-40

That’s frightening but what choice do these workers have they are proving how essential they are by not being able to work. Not to mention how unnecessary most air travel is. Commerce is profit heavy and necessity slim. But all of it relies heavily on air traffic if personal flex their collective muscle a bit maybe that long overdue raise will happen. Cost are going up everywhere and this will add to that. We need more local markets and intrastate sufficiency. Maybe vegetables from Hawaii don’t need to be on tables in Maine? Or wine from Japan need not be purchased in France? Sustainability was lost in the 1990s maybe we can scale back to restore sanity?! And keep prices low

exchrist · 36-40

@SusanInFlorida I agree with you there no one can be denied pay for work done. That is illegal!
Workers (any) and especially salaried ones sign an agreement that includes being paid for hours work(ed).
Interesting that a “republican” administration chooses to use mafia tactics against government employees.
As stated if workers aren’t getting paid for the work they are doing they stop working. These are essential workers. The president DJT is delaying government function so the charges against him never get processed. Running out the clock until he simply dies.
Will the necessary workers to execute the court orders against him be willing to break ranks for long enough to hold Mr. Trump accountable?
Idk! Hopefully?
THEN THEY WOULD GET PAID!

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@exchrist i dont think this is a problem with one specific political party.

democrats have sent lots of americans to their deaths (world war 2, korea, vietnam) and sent federal troops in as strikebreakers to factories.