Illinois senators accuse FAA chief of holding air traffic controller raises "hostage"

Illinois Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin are criticizing the FAA Administrator, Bryan Bedford, for withholding a 2.8% pay raise for air traffic controllers approved by Congress in April. The senators argue that this move is "petty, disrespectful and counterproductive" and that the conditions set by Congress for the raise to be implemented - such as improvements to staffing and scheduling efficiency - are not too high of a bar to meet. Congress had allocated $140 million for the 3.8% pay increase, but only a 1% raise has been given so far, which is also the same percentage given to all government employees in January. The FAA's 2026 Controller Workforce Plan suggests that the agency believes it can improve scheduling efficiency and reduce overtime by getting more "utilization" out of air traffic controllers, which Duckworth and Durbin say is a way of holding the raise hostage.