Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced legislation this week that would provide back-and-ongoing pay for essential Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration employees during the ongoing government shutdown. The “Keep America Flying Act of 2026” was placed on the Senate calendar Wednesday and would authorize appropriations for air traffic controllers, TSA screeners, and other essential federal aviation personnel. The bill follows ongoing funding stalemates that have begun putting strain on the personal finances of a large number of essential workers who support the nation’s air transportation system.
Under the proposal, pay, benefits and allowances would restart and continue for air traffic controllers, TSA screeners, and contractors supporting essential safety and security functions. The act would take effect retroactively to Sept. 30, providing immediate back pay for those affected. According to the bill text, funding would remain in place until regular appropriations are enacted or through the end of fiscal 2026, whichever comes first.
A similar bill was proposed in mid-September by House Democrats, who introduced the “Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2025” on Sept. 18 to allow the FAA to draw temporarily from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund in the event of a shutdown. While that proposal focused solely on maintaining FAA operations, the Cruz bill broadens the approach to include TSA and other related contractors, thus extending coverage beyond direct FAA roles, to both safety and security functions across the aviation system. The House bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation on Sept. 19, though there are currently no further records available related to the Bill.
Gotta keep those Cancun routes open in case there’s another Texas grid failure this winter.
Perhaps we take that $85 million the Cruz tossed into the Big Beautiful Bill to move the Space Shuttle from the Smithsonian to Houston, and reallocate it to something more meaningful. Paying ATC for example.
Thereby taking even more pressure off to actually pass a budget. This piecemealing of paying certain people (while there are hundreds of thousands more that perform other safety and critical functions for the population) and not actually shutting down the government, but doing the opposite, is just making this go on longer. Shut down the military, CIA, every 3-letter agency, DHS, etc. I bet with them actually shut down they figure it out in a day.