As the Federal government shutdown enters its second month, employees at Augusta Regional Airport (AGS) are rallying around coworkers going without a paycheck.
Impacted employees include those working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Those employees are part of what are considered “essential workers” who must continue to report to their jobs. Nationwide, an estimated 730,000 essential workers are going without a paycheck.
Herbert Judon, Jr., the airport’s executive director, briefed members of the Aviation Commission on how the shutdown is being felt at AGS.
“We have been fortunate to date that our employees are essential,” he said. “I know we hear stories in the media and other cities about sickouts with air traffic controllers and stuff like that. We have not had that issue to date here in Augusta. The employees have been coming to work and doing their duty. So, it’s been kind of business as usual for us from that perspective.”
Judon added that does not mean the airport’s federal employees who are working without pay are not feeling the crunch. To that end, he asked DeAndre Davis, the airport’s customer service supervisor, to determine what kind of assistance those workers most need.
Davis said there are almost 85 federal employees at AGS who are working without pay. Of that number, there are at least eight households with no income because both parents are federal workers, or one is working without pay, and the other must be a stay-at-home parent for the children.
“One of the things that we’ve done is reached out to local churches and businesses, asking them to support in any way they can, whether that’s to provide food for them for lunch, or any type of gift cards that may be able to allow them to put gas in their car and get some other essential items that they may need,” he explained. “To date, we have about 19 churches on the list we’ve been in contact with. Six of them have already contributed by way of either providing food, some of them have done it twice in one week, and are already committed to do it every week, at least one of the days.”
Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA12) visited the airport to talk with federal employees and the rest of the staff. He took the opportunity to speak to the Aviation Commission.
“I’ve talked to the TSA agents. I talked with the FAA director, and we’ve done a good job here. So, I thank you for that,” he said. He added he spoke to passengers who traveled back to Augusta through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
“They’ve been up for 30 hours trying to get back from California, but that’s not happening in Augusta, Georgia. I’ve heard great stories about churches and whatnot, bringing food, bringing gift cards so these folks can get gasoline, to get back and forth to work, things like that. The community is stepping up, and that’s just the kind of community we are.”
Davis said the airport’s non-federal employees are also pitching in to help keep the airport running smoothly for passengers.
“Even though we cannot truly understand what they’re feeling, to let them know that we’re here to support them and that we appreciate them for not only showing up but still showing up with the ideology of still serving passengers,” he said. “One of the lanes shut down recently, which caused the traffic flow early morning to slow down. So, we jumped in and provided assistance to make sure that those passengers got through.”
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware (www.flightaware.com/), nearly 6,000 flights were delayed on Sunday, Nov. 2. That included a four-hour ground stop at Newark, N.J.’s Liberty Airport. Delays were also reported at other large airports.
Judon told ABD they are monitoring delays and ground stops at other airports to prepare for possible impact locally, but there have been no delays at Augusta.
Checking the airport’s website (www.flyags.com) on Tuesday showed all arrivals and departures are on schedule.
