The Trump administration said Thursday that just 776 air traffic controllers who worked during the longest government shutdown in history will be awarded $10,000 bonuses for their “perfect attendance.”
The bonuses will be doled out no later than Dec. 9, according to a Federal Aviation Administration announcement.
“These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
The National Air Traffic Controller Association (NATCA), a labor union for more than 20,000 air industry workers, told Fortune it was informed Thursday afternoon of Duffy’s decision to issue the cash awards to 311 of the workers it represents.
“Although we agree that the work performed by these aviation safety professionals during the shutdown deserves recognition, praise, and our collective gratitude, we are concerned that thousands of air traffic controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown, ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo across the nation, while working without pay and uncertain of when they would receive compensation, were excluded from this recognition,” NATCA said in a statement.
A spokesperson for NATCA toldAxios in early October that nearly 11,000 fully certified controllers were working up to 10-hour shifts six days per week without pay. In late October, the FAA estimated 13,000 air traffic controllers had been working without pay.
Because they weren’t earning money during the shutdown, many controllers had to take sick days to work other jobs and make ends meet.
The strain caused a shortage of critical air travel staff, which led the FAA to reduce flights at 40 major travel hubs across the country.
Still, Duffy expressed sympathy for federal workers struggling to pay bills, adding he did not plan to penalize air traffic controllers who didn’t show up for work.
“Again when they’re making decisions to feed their families, I’m not going to fire air traffic controllers,” he said on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. “They need support, they need money, they need a paycheck. They don’t need to be fired.”
The FAA did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
President Donald Trump first floated the $10,000 bonus to air traffic controllers earlier this month, in a Truth Social post.
Throughout the 43-day shutdown, he took aim at federal aviation workers calling in sick to take up second jobs and pay for essentials, even threatening to dock the workers’ pay earlier this month.
“All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work,” Trump wrote in the same Truth Social post on Nov. 10. “I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU.”
NATCA told Fortune that the union and Duffy had “worked well together to address the negative effects on our bargaining units” throughout the shutdown.
“We look forward to working with the Administration to provide the appropriate recognition to those not covered by the Secretary’s announcement,” the union added.
