Illinois senators blast FAA administrator for holding air traffic controller raises “hostage”

September 4, 2026 / 7:00 AM EDT / CBS News

Illinois Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin harshly criticized FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford for holding up a pay raise for air traffic controllers that Congress approved as part of legislation President Trump signed into law in April.

The Homeland Security and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act set aside $140 million to give controllers a 3.8% pay raise, but they have so far only received the 1% raise given to all government employees. In a letter Friday, obtained exclusively by CBS News, the senators call on the Federal Aviation Administration to immediately roll out the rest of the pay hike.

"Holding air traffic controllers' remaining 2.8 percent pay increase hostage to force a workforce that has operated under mandatory overtime for years to work longer hours is petty, disrespectful and counterproductive," the senators wrote.

Under Bedford, the FAA recently submitted its 2026 Controller Workforce Plan, which the agency says identifies opportunities to improve scheduling efficiency with a goal of raising the average hours of productive time per eight-hour shift from four hours to five.

Duckworth is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Aviation subcommittee and Durbin, who is retiring in…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/