Duckworth demands Transportation Dept. give $10,000 bonus to all air traffic controllers

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Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the ranking member on the Senate's aviation subcommittee, is demanding the Transportation Department expand its $10,000 bonus to all air traffic controllers and FAA technicians who worked without pay during the government shutdown. The department said it would give the bonuses only to those who did not miss a day of work during the 44-day shutdown.

"Excluding 96 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce from this bonus is unfair, divisive and disrespectful to the over 20,000 dedicated Federal employees who worked under extremely stressful conditions to ensure our Nation Airspace System (NAS) was safe during the 2025 shutdown," Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, first obtained by CBS News.

Duckworth told CBS News it was "an insult" to the controllers and said that "at a time when we should be doing everything we can to retain and recruit air traffic controllers, the Trump Administration choosing to punish and alienate 96% of the FAA's controller and technician workforce is completely counterproductive."

Last month, the Transportation Department announced 776 air traffic controllers and technicians would receive the $10,000 bonuses.

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