US: FAA unions highlight potential risks to air safety from shutdown

The leaders of unions representing air traffic controllers and aviation safety inspectors warned Thursday that the partial government shutdown was hurting the safety of the nation’s air travel system, another effort by the labor movement to press Washington to put federal employees back to work. “Without a fully functioning FAA, a layer of safety is missing,” said Mike Perrone, the national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents safety inspectors who are furloughed. At a rally outside the Capitol, where a crowd of air traffic controllers and other aviation workers gathered to call for an end to the shutdown, Mr. Perrone warned of the risk of sidelining FAA workers who could be inspecting planes and pilots. There is no evidence that air travellers have been put in danger so far because of staffing changes caused by the shutdown. But the union leaders made the issue of safety a central part of their argument that the shutdown needed to end immediately. “Every day that goes by that the government is shut down, safety is going to be compromised,” Perrone said. “Every day that goes by, something could occur that causes a crack in the system.”<br/>