A GoFundMe campaign aimed at supplying groceries and gas money for local air traffic controllers not receiving pay during the partial government shutdown has been suspended by its founder due to the potential for ethics violations. Hearing that some controllers were struggling after missed paychecks, general aviation pilot Graeme Smith started the GoFundMe campaign on Tuesday night. However, when he contacted tower personnel about getting an employee headcount, concerns were raised about whether the funds would constitute “gifts” according to federal ethics regulations and therefore be prohibited.
Smith approached several aviation organizations for legal advice on the matter, including AOPA Legal Services and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) national office in Washington, D.C. The responses he received were mixed: One organization’s legal team believed that if distributed properly, the money might fall under an exception that allows federal employees to accept gifts of $20 or less per occasion from a single source (capped at $50 per year). Another organization advised that there was no clear way to avoid ethical violations if controllers accepted any of the funds.
Smith suspended the fundraising campaign on the request of NATCA, which asked that he do so until an FAA ethics official could provide a ruling on the matter. Smith was later told the official has been furloughed due to the shutdown. “Regardless of politics, controllers are getting hungry and in some cases are struggling to find money to pay for gas to get to work,” Smith told AVweb. “Well-intentioned government ethics rules mean we can’t help out our controllers in a meaningful way.”
Before being suspended on Wednesday morning, the GoFundMe campaign had raised roughly $700. Smith says he is exploring other ways to provide assistance. It is unclear how concerns about ethics violations will affect hundreds of similar fundraising efforts for federal employees.
