I am writing to urge you to take the necessary steps to immediately end the shutdown of government agencies that is adversely affecting the safety, security and efficiency of our national airspace system.
DePete explained that the Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security operate as both regulators and service providers.
Mechanical inspections, drone oversight and new enhanced communications systems are all threatened.
Worse, air traffic controllers, airspace system maintenance personnel and air marshals are working unpaid.
Moreover, CNN now reports that hundreds of TSA screeners are calling in sick. Could the fact that they're not being paid have an influence?
This, too, says DePete, could jeopardize safety:
The pressure these civil servants are facing at home should not be ignored. At some point, these dedicated federal employees will encounter personal financial damages that will take a long time from which to recover, if at all.
By writing directly to the president -- and merely copying congressional leaders -- the pilots appear to be holding him responsible for the potential dangers flowing from the shutdown.
TSA “sickout” at LGA is a travelers’ nightmare! pic.twitter.com/i6SAvuPcGm
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) January 6, 2019