>> The historically long government shutdown may finally be coming to an end.

Senators are expected to vote tonight on the bipartisan compromise before going to house part of what apply pressure on lawmakers to strike a deal was the cancellation of thousands of flights at major airports as air traffic controllers were going unpaid along with other federal workers.

But even within into the shutdown, insight aired travel may still be turbulent amid an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers.

Joining us now are in Joseph Show for a civil engineering professor at Northwestern University.

Robert Mark, a retired pilot, former air traffic controller and publisher of the aviation blog Jet Wind and Darrell English.

Tsa officer at Midway Airport and president of the American Federation of Government Employees, local 7.77, union representing TSA agents in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Gentleman.

Welcome and thanks to all of you for joining us.

Robert Robert Market want to start with you.

President Trump, he took to social media to criticize the number of air traffic controllers who have been missing work some protesting the shutdown.

Others picking up second jobs because they need to make ends meet.

They've been going for a while without a paycheck.

The president wrote, quote, for those that did nothing but complain and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid in full shortly into the future.

I am not happy with you.

You didn't step up to help the USA.

Robert is this is reasonable to extend expect air traffic controllers to work without indefinitely.

Thank you, >> So I mean, I I meant that sarcastically I think president said parental at that point and he has never worked in a job like this.

And the these people have been struggling to pay their bills and he has no idea what it's like for someone to work.

6 day week, 6 day weeks, 10 hour days and still have to try to find time for another job.

Driving an Uber delivering things in order to pay the bills.

>> Darrell 7 Senate Democrats, one independent senator.

They all joined Republicans in passing a continuing resolution to fund the government or agreeing on a continuing resolution to fund the government.

That's, of course, a major step towards ending the shutdown, women and possibly insight.

What has the shutdown been like for you as a TSA officer and for your co-workers at O'Hare and Midway airports?

>> Well, for officers our local most, this has been very fatiguing, very troubling.

These officers have through all over a month without a pay sacrificed their livelihoods, but their cells in jeopardy.

As far as Bill collections.

So to see this possibly come to order.

And it's something that, you know, we are looking forward to, but they have also a ticket themselves to to make sure that flying public is secure as possible.

>> Have you heard from any members who have said, you know, I'm going to have to have to cut a cut out of work for a little bit that I can go find other work because I need to earn a paycheck.

>> Yes, we've got officers that taking on second jobs to fund second jobs, additional type work.

We have also is also have officers that resigned because they could not continue the process of not being paid.

There's a lot of things that the officers are going through it's that they have continued to be faithful to making sure that the traveling public, it's a cure.

But needless to say, these officers sacrifice a lot and willing to continue to sacrifice, but they have gone through a lot to make sure that public is secure.

>> Joseph last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a temporary 10% reduction in flights.

What does that mean in practice?

>> But it means is that a lot of people are not going to be able to make the trips that they plan to take.

I think there's a there are a couple of parts to this.

One is the massive uncertainty.

presents to people traveling difficulty in finding another option, which means either not traveling traveling at a different time.

traveling on a different mode, which in the United States for trips over 500 miles is is unlikely.

It's really impossible on that.

The uncertainty is important.

I think one thing that we don't talk about much is in addition to the several 1000 flights that are canceled, flight delays are very considerably.

So he report, for example, this this afternoon had a 2 and a hour, a ground stop, which means all inbound aircraft or held at their at their origin for safety.

And really what's happening is we're trying to reduce were cared for the real meaning.

Air traffic controller said is moderate the number of flights that they have to per per hour.

And that means delays.

And that means cancellations.

>> I would imagine airport here with a two-hour groundstop that's going to create ripple effects across across the sector in this country.

Does show for if the government does reopen in the next few days, will airports be able to resume business as usual or will it take some time to to literally get back some to it's going to take some time because because >> do you what you're really saying is what we will pay you, but we're not going to pay you instantly.

So people are in this in the same situation.

live in a week that they were last week.

So that will take some time for people to respond and to rebuild the capacity I think one of the things that we need to keep in mind is the overall ATC system is not particularly resilient because they've been understaffed for years and then under technology for for years.

And we've let that go.

So this is a listen.

It really was case of the crisis that gives us an opportunity to rethink the system and building some resilience in the long term.

No relief crazy situation like this.

But also for weather disasters.

Yeah.

And to that point, you know, as you said, the FAA is short about 3,000 air traffic controllers, many working with outdated technology.

>> Robert, the shutdown has put a spotlight on this problem and the need for reforming the air traffic control system is Joseph just said potentially moving it outside the federal, a shunt Federal Aviation administration altogether or privatizing it.

What do you make of those possibilities?

>> I think the FAA, if it were listening to I would say please don't don't try to do too many things at one time.

Let's let's get this shutdown figured out.

Get the controllers back to work in a way that they get paid and keep training new people and worry about the system under which ship FAA operate air traffic control system figured out a little bit later.

>> Darrell, even if the House does sign off on the Senate's deal deal to reopen the government, that funding only carries through January.

Howard TSA agents feeling about their job security with the threat of another shutdown possibly looming in January.

>> Well, it's going to weigh heavily on their minds because even though let say it, they made it a government that open up.

They still be concerned about closing back down later or so.

That's going to limit them from being able to move forward or maybe taking trips paid for certain things.

They're going to basically try to compare himself were to happen again and again, lot of questions that themselves into full limit do or what that whether they will continue work threat with TSA possibly move to somewhere else where there's more state.

>> Robert, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, largest union representing air traffic controllers been calling for legislators in Washington, both Democrat and Republican, of course, too resolve the shutdown.

They've been calling for this for weeks.

How would you describe the relationship between the controllers and government officials?

>> I think the relationship is always was stressed it it has been for many, many decades.

Going back to the controllers strike back in 1981 system never really recovered from that.

And it's been it's been getting a lot of good inches along here.

And there until there's some weather There's a technology failure and then it it becomes front page headline.

But there it's him again the I think the controllers union doing the best that it can work with the administration because they want to see these people get paid.

>> I'm sure they do.

Okay.

Well, fingers crossed whatever, whatever may come out of out of Washington that the skies are still safe.

That is where we'll have to leave it.

Gentlemen, thank you for