As air-traffic controllers missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday, with the government shutdown entering its 28th day, Dan McCabe, Southern Regional Vice President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, sounded the alarm over the potential impact on air-safety operations.
During an appearance on CNN Tuesday afternoon, McCabe detailed the way the shutdown has affected air traffic controllers, who are now working without pay.
"When you ask an air-traffic controller to come to work, do the job at the level that is required every single day, and you do that under the shadow of financial stress or stress about your kids or your family; you're essentially injecting risk into a system that was built at its foundation on being risk-averse," McCabe told host Brianna Keilar.
He continued: "And whenyou do that, it's a little less safetomorrow than it is today, and alittle less the next day and thenext day, and the next day –because fear, anxiety, fatiguethose are human factors. And asprofessional as they are, and asdedicated to the craft as theyare, they're humans."
The union leader detailed how air traffic controllers are coping. "There are peoplethat are asking about how totake extended time away to go dosomething, wait tables, drive,uber, anything they can do tomake ends meet."
He added: "Because we're ata point now, today it's a zeropaycheck. And let's not forgetthat here in a couple of weeks,mortgages are due, car paymentsare due, insurance things aredue. And this is where we're at."
McCabe warned that the situation could turn more serious.
"We don't know what everyone'sbreaking point looks like. Andlet's face it, we don't want toknow what everyone's breakingpoint looks like. But every daythat this thing continues tomove forward, we're gettingcloser and closer and closer toeveryone's individual point, inwhich they throw up and throw inthe towel," he added.
Watch the segment below: