Delays..

More than 1,000 people are working without pay at SFO amid shutdown

Still, 1,300 essential federal workers are working at the airport without pay

By Olivia Harden

On the eighth day of the government shutdown, 1,300 workers at San Francisco International Airport are working without pay.

Since Oct. 1, workers employed by the federal government, including those at the Federal Aviation Administration, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Coast Guard, the FBI and federal air marshals, have all been reporting to work without the immediate promise of a paycheck. 

“Federal employees are vital to the safe and secure operation of SFO, and we stand with the employees during this difficult time and will continue to expand our support as the shutdown continues,” airport Director Mike Nakornkhet said at Tuesday’s Airport Commission meeting.

Security staff at SFO are not affected by the shutdown because they are employed by a private company, Covenant Aviation Security, which provides screening services to the federal government. Unlike other airports, which have seen an increase in sick callouts by air traffic controllers that has led to flight delays — including Burbank International, where a tower was unstaffed for hours Monday — SFO has not yet experienced delays due to controllers not showing up for work. However, the airport was experiencing a near-45-minute ground delay due to weather conditions on Wednesday. 

“We have been in close communications with our local air traffic control tower, and thus far, there have been no impacts due to the federal shutdown,” Nakornkhet said. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with them.”

Although the airport itself does not employ federal workers, it has implemented temporary discounts to reduce federal employee expenses during this period of uncertainty. Federal workers are eligible for a $7 discount on $20 a day employee parking, as well as discounts on concessions from the airport’s vendors. The airport is also arranging donation drives for federal employees working at the site.

Essential employees who are working without pay are protected under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act that Trump signed after the last government shutdown in 2019. However, in a recent draft memo, the White House argued that any furloughed workers aren’t guaranteed back pay unless specified by Congress, according to Axios.

“While back pay will likely come once the government reopens, however, the uncertainties to the employees are very real and we are moving quickly to provide support to our federal partners,” Nakornkhet said at the meeting.

The last government shutdown, which lasted 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, ended when 10 air traffic controllers took unscheduled time off, resulting in significant delays at airports nationwide. While federal law prohibits organized work acts like strikes, even a small number of air traffic controllers not reporting for work can create major problems for airports, especially since there has been a shortage of air traffic control staffing in the U.S. for a decade.