Originally published at: Blue Angels Grounded at Georgia Airshow
Rome event to proceed with civilian-only lineup as U.S. government shutdown continues.
Aren’t these shows already programmed into the budget?
Having been through my fair share of shut downs and shut down “warnings” as a government contractor, it isn’t quite as simple as that. Once a shutdown goes into effect every line item is reviewed as “essential”. So for example, OJT for controllers “typically” stops the day the shutdown starts, because while ATC is “essential,” the line item in the budget for “training” the next generation of controllers…nope, sorry, not “essential”. So even though the same controller is on the hook to work a full shift, and money is budgeted for that full shift, the only part of that shift that is “essential” is the actual time on position, NOT the time plugged in next to a controller in training. That controller in training may not even be handling traffic, so they aren’t going to rack up hours for both personnel for OJT.
Now, I said “typically,” because like everything the government does, there can be exceptions. Every shut down I’ve been through has been different, and some things change from one to the next.
In this case, the show may be in the “budget”, but the cost of maintenance, rooms for the pilots, meal per diem, and so on, may not be line items that the agency is “allowed” to make “essential.” For the same reason, the Marine Corps band and Navy band have both cancelled concerts, because in the shutdown the bands are not “essential”, even though the performers are all military members, and likely back-paid when the shutdown ends.
Ain’t it fun when our politicians play games like this?
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