Government Announces Bonus Recognition for Some TSA Workers
Some TSA agents will receive a nice bonus heading into the holiday season. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that TSA agents who demonstrated "exemplary service" during the federal government shutdown will be eligible for a $10,000 bonus check. Read on for the details of this surprise bonus.
Select TSA Agents to Receive Monetary Bonus
TSA agents who continued to show up throughout the historic government shutdown are being rewarded for their efforts. DHS Secretary Noem announced the bonuses at a press conference on Thursday in Houston. Standing alongside TSA agents, Noem said that others around the nation will be recognized for their efforts during the shutdown. She said that the bonus checks were intended to help the workers and their families "get back on their feet."
Noem recognized the thousands of workers who continued to serve over the last six weeks. When questioned if she was recognizing those who did not call out sick, Noem said that was not exactly the parameters of the eligibility for the bonuses. She did not elaborate on how the bonuses will be considered. Instead, she said that DHS is going to look at all of the workers who performed what she called "exceptional service."
DHS confirmed that the money for the bonuses will come from funds left over from the current fiscal year.
The announcement of the bonuses came just days after President Donald Trump threatened to substantially dock air traffic controllers who were not showing up for work. It was at this time that the president also signaled that he was going to recommend bonuses for employees who worked through the shutdown.
Latest on Air Travel Disruptions
The bonuses are coming after weeks of chaotic travel in the skies. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents were forced to work without pay during the 43-day shutdown. As a result, employees calling out sick spiked across the nation's airports, triggering massive amounts of delays and flight cancellations.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered flights to throttle down in response to the growing number of staff shortages. Thousands of flights were cancelled throughout the week, with even more delays.
While the employees are now being paid for their work, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that it will take some time for air traffic patterns to return to normal. Cancellations were significantly lower on Thursday compared to earlier in the week. According to flight-tracking site FlightAware, there were 615 cancelled flights and about 850 delays by noon Thursday.
Cancellations around the country's airports came in at under 6% on Thursday. The FAA said that the mandated 6% cancellation rate will remain in place until the systems can gradually return to normal operations. Aviation experts are hopeful that travel will be at normal loads by Thanksgiving week.
Did you find this content useful? Feel free to bookmark or to post to your timeline for reference later.