The FAA plans to furlough about 11,300 workers while the federal government is shut down.
According to a U.S. Department of Transportation planning document, 11,332 people at the agency will be furloughed as of Wednesday. It is expected to take about half a day to fully “shut down” the FAA, though in reality it will continue to perform air traffic control (ATC) and other air safety functions.
Just over 33,500 employees have been deemed too essential to furlough and will remain on the job without pay for as long as the shutdown lasts. Most are considered “necessary to protect life and property,” while a smaller contingent are needed to perform duties “implied by law.”
The FAA’s list of necessary functions and activities include ATC services, aircraft and airport safety inspections, accident investigations, maintenance operations, commercial space launch oversight, aircrew medical certifications, and the issuance of airworthiness directives.
Contrary to what some industry groups had feared, the FAA’s ATC training academy will continue to operate, using funds approved in prior years.
Aviation technology and engineering research, airport planning and environmental services, and the disbursement of federal grants to airports will also continue as normal, the document said.
Activities that will be suspended during the shutdown include aviation rulemaking, random drug testing of the nonsafety workforce, background checks, air traffic performance analysis, capital planning, audits, law enforcement assistance support, and most administrative support functions.
The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT Wednesday after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to reach an agreement on continuing funding. It is not clear when the two sides plan to restart negotiations.
The White House has signaled that it will use the shutdown to carry out mass firings of federal workers, though no specific agencies had been named as of Wednesday morning.
