WASHINGTON — An air traffic controller pay raise authorized by Congress remains only partly paid on Tuesday as Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin of Illinois press FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford to release the unpaid share, after controllers received only the governmentwide 1% increase instead of the full 3.8% Congress funded.
CBS News reported that the Homeland Security and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act set aside $140 million for a 3.8% controller raise. In a letter obtained by CBS News, the senators called withholding the remaining 2.8% of the air traffic controller pay raise “petty, disrespectful and counterproductive.”
What Congress authorized for the air traffic controller pay raise
President Donald Trump signed the funding law on April 30, 2026 (Public Law 119-86). Duckworth and Durbin’s letter, also posted by Duckworth’s office, says that more than four months later controllers, supervisors, and managers have only received the 1% governmentwide raise — leaving most of the air traffic controller pay raise locked.
The statute ties the additional controller increase to the administrator’s determination that improvements in workforce scheduling, staffing utilization, or other operational efficiencies help address shortfalls and enhance aviation safety. Bedford has linked unlocking the remaining 2.8% to scheduling and utilization talks with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
Why Bedford and the senators disagree on the air traffic controller pay raise
Duckworth, ranking Democrat on the Senate Aviation subcommittee, and Durbin argue the statutory bar is not high and that squeezing more utilization from an already overtime-heavy workforce risks fatigue, weaker retention, and safety problems. Their letter cites staffing gaps at Illinois facilities listed in the FAA’s Controller Workforce Plan, including Chicago O’Hare tower and Chicago TRACON shortfalls as of the plan’s September 2025 facility data.
The FAA has told reporters that Congress conditioned the raise on operational improvements and that the agency plans to work with NATCA on scheduling practices. Bedford has indicated the remaining air traffic controller pay raise could still be implemented this year if those talks succeed.
What travelers should know while the fight continues
Nothing in the senators’ letter immediately changes takeoff or landing procedures. The dispute is about compensation and scheduling for the workforce that separates traffic on crowded routes. Controllers already covering mandatory overtime are the same people who would receive the unpaid share of the air traffic controller pay raise.
Duckworth and Durbin frame the holdup as a retention and safety issue, not a bargaining chip. The FAA frames it as following the statute’s efficiency conditions before releasing the rest of the funded increase.
Why this matters
Controllers keep commercial and general aviation traffic separated on crowded routes. Pay and schedule fights land on the same workforce already covering mandatory overtime. Travelers may not see the air traffic controller pay raise dispute in a boarding-pass app, but staffing strain and morale affect the system that clears every departure and arrival.
How Never Late News reported this
Never Late News reviewed CBS News’ Sept. 4 report on the Duckworth-Durbin letter and the $140 million / 3.8% vs. 1% figures, then checked the full letter text released by Sen. Duckworth’s office naming Administrator Bedford, Public Law 119-86, and the remaining 2.8%. We did not invent facility staffing numbers beyond those the senators attributed to the FAA workforce plan.
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Primary source: CBS News on the senators’ letter over FAA controller pay raises.