In a recent open letter to Congress, Delta CEO Ed Bastian joined 9 other aviation CEOs – representing the largest U.S. passenger and cargo carriers – who stressed the important of paying federal aviation workers during government shutdowns.

On Friday, March 13, TSA officers received a $0 paycheck after a lapse in funding that began on February 14.

“That is simply unacceptable,” the CEOs wrote. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid.”

On Tuesday morning, Ed shared his thoughts on the partial government shutdown on CNBC’s Squawk Box.

In his CNBC interview, Ed urged Congress to pursue a speedy resolution of the current lapse in U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding: 

“It’s inexcusable that our security agents, front-line workers central to what we do, are not being paid. It’s ridiculous to see them used as political chips. We’re outraged. Over 90% of the American public supports these people getting paid. Ask our folks in Washington to do their job and get our people paid. They can do it,” Ed said.   

As the partial U.S. government shutdown continues, Delta remains focused on delivering a safe, reliable travel experience for our customers while supporting our partners in the transportation sector. Customers can check their departure airport website for estimated wait-times and as always, can make updates or changes to their travel plans via the Delta app or delta.com. 

Delta continues to engage with policymakers to encourage an end to this shutdown and to promote legislation to ensure the federal workers on the frontlines of our nation’s aviation system are always paid for their work, even in the event of a government shutdown. To add your voice in support of this effort, you can use the following link: https://www.airlines.org/pay-our-federal-aviation-workers/