With the government shutdown expected to end this week, airport disruptions will take some time to bounce back.

“It’s like starting a freight train up after you slammed on the brakes,” Dan McCabe, National Air Traffic Controller Association Southern Region Vice President, said. “It takes a minute.”

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McCabe says the recovery speed will take a hit because of a shortage of controllers.

“Our staffing wasn’t good two days before the shutdown started,” McCabe said. “It didn’t get magically better during the shutdown.”

He says nationwide, airports need roughly 3,800 air traffic controllers. As of now, that leaves airports roughly 25 percent understaffed. While he says Raleigh-Durham International has good staffing levels, the impacts at other airports will inevitably trickle down to impact RDU.

It’s a problem that’s existed for a decade now, McCabe says. Long days and work weeks, topping 10 hours a day and six days a week for many.

And, because of the shutdown, many haven’t been paid since the middle of September. Priority number one for NATCA.

“First and foremost, you have to get people paid and fairly quickly,” McCabe said.

Two months of bills are piling up for controllers. McCabe says that’s two months' worth of mortgages, car payments, and other outstanding bills weighing on the minds of workers who need to be on their A-game as soon as they clock in.

“They’re deferring mortgages or calling the lender of that car payment and figuring out what to do with that,” McCabe said. “You have to be 100 percent 100 percent of the time. There is no pause button. You have to keep moving. It’s a very unique job.”

It’s also unique because it is so closely intertwined with the federal government.

“I get it,” McCabe said. “We signed up for a very stressful job. We signed up to work 24/7/365. We signed up to work Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. I don’t think anyone got a briefing when we were swearing in, saying, Hold on. Let me tell you about a government shutdown, and you can decide if you want to walk out.”

It’s baggage you can’t check at the airport, but it makes its way through the door. Because of that, the rebound could take weeks and run into the Thanksgiving travel season.

“You’re going to feel it,” McCabe said. “It won’t be at the airport you’re sitting at. You may be feeling the ripple effects from elsewhere. You may be stuck at RDU because of an issue in Denver that created an issue in Chicago and a crew is running behind and an airplane is somewhere it’s not supposed to be.”