Two Illinois senators have urged the Federal Aviation Administration to release the remaining 2.8 per cent of a pay rise approved for air traffic controllers, accusing the agency’s administrator of using the money as leverage in a dispute over working practices.
Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin said the controllers had received only the one per cent increase awarded to all US government employees, despite Congress approving a total rise of 3.8 per cent earlier this year.
The additional increase was included in the Homeland Security and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, which President Donald Trump signed on 30 April. The legislation set aside $140 million for the pay award.
In a letter to FAA administrator Bryan Bedford, the Democratic senators said the remaining rise had been withheld for more than four months. They called for it to be implemented immediately.
“Holding air traffic controllers’ remaining 2.8 percent pay increase hostage to force a workforce that has operated under mandatory overtime for years to work longer hours is petty, disrespectful and counterproductive,” they wrote.
FAA links pay rise to scheduling changes
The FAA has said the legislation made the increase conditional on improvements to workforce scheduling, staffing utilisation or other operational efficiencies that would help address staff shortages and improve aviation safety.
Mr Bedford has linked the release of the money to changes in how controllers are scheduled and how much time they spend actively managing aircraft. The agency’s 2026 workforce plan seeks to increase the average productive time during an eight-hour shift from four hours to five.
The FAA said Congress, rather than the agency, had made the pay increase contingent on the administrator determining that the required improvements had been achieved. It said it was willing to work with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, or NATCA, to examine existing schedules and identify ways to improve productivity, safety and controllers’ quality of life.
NATCA said it continued to press for the full increase through discussions with the FAA and welcomed support from lawmakers who recognised the work carried out by the country’s air traffic control workforce.
Duckworth and Durbin argued that further increasing the workload of controllers who were already working overtime could damage recruitment and retention, as well as aviation safety.
“Squeezing more ‘utilization’ out of air traffic controllers who have been understaffed, underpaid and overworked for years will weaken retention and undermine aviation safety,” they said.
The senators pointed to staffing figures for major Illinois facilities. As of 20 September 2025, Chicago O’Hare tower had 61 certified professional controllers against a target of 88, while Chicago’s terminal radar facility had 76 against 100. Chicago Center had 277 against 290 and Midway tower had 19 against 22.
The FAA’s national plan sets a target of 12,563 certified professional controllers. The agency said about 11,000 were deployed across more than 300 facilities in April, with a further 4,000 controllers in training, although full certification can take more than two years.
The agency has made hiring a central part of its response to the staffing shortage. Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said in August that more than 2,000 controllers had been hired and taken through the academy during the year, after a recruitment campaign aimed at video gamers attracted more than 12,000 applicants in less than 24 hours.
Duckworth, the senior Democrat on the Senate aviation subcommittee, and Durbin, the Senate Democratic whip, said the FAA should approve the outstanding 2.8 per cent increase without further delay.
