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EXCLUSIVE: As federal agencies hunker down for what could be a protracted government shutdown, Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., is introducing a bill to make sure that Americans’ flights can continue on schedule no matter how long the closure lasts.
With the busiest time of the year for air travel quickly approaching and tens of millions of Americans expected to fly in the coming months, an extended government shutdown could have catastrophic impacts on flight safety as well as Americans’ travel plans.
To combat this, Bean introduced a bill, the “Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025,” which would ensure that America’s air traffic controllers and essential Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel continue to be paid, even during a shutdown.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Bean’s office called the bill a “preemptive strike against chaos in the control tower, ensuring that the backbone of our aviation system doesn’t buckle under political gridlock.”
13 TIMES DEMOCRATS VOTED FOR A SHORT-TERM CONTINUING RESOLUTION UNDER BIDEN
Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., is introducing a bill to make sure essential FAA workers continue to be paid during government shutdowns, protecting against massive flight delays that have occurred in the past. (Getty Images)
The statement explained, “This isn’t just about paychecks. It’s about keeping our skies safe, our flights on time, and our economy airborne.”
Air traffic controllers and other essential FAA personnel do not receive paychecks during government shutdowns despite being required to work to keep the nation’s flight schedules safe and on time. Though these federal workers are eventually paid when the government reopens, extended periods of time without a paycheck lead to stress on both the workers and the overall flight system.
In 2019, on the 35th day of a government shutdown, ten air traffic controllers called in sick in Virginia and Florida, triggering ground stops at…
