FAA workers grapple with possible shutdown deal as officials try to navigate upcoming holiday travel rush

Planes go past the air traffic control tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia on November 7, 2025. Megan Varner/Getty Images Washington —

Atlanta mom Amanda James’ heart shattered when her soon-to-be 11-year-old uttered the words: “Mom, I don’t have to have a birthday party this year.”

Her son knew both James, a Federal Aviation Administration airway transportation systems specialist and mother of four, and her husband, an air traffic controller, weren’t receiving paychecks during the government shutdown.

“That absolutely broke my heart,” James explained to CNN. “(I told him), ‘That is not for you to worry about.’ I was like, ‘No, whatever you want to do that day, that’s what we’re going to do.’ It hurt my feelings so bad that a coming 11-ye