Air traffic controllers offer a slice of goodwill

Canadian workers order pizzas for U.S. colleagues affected by shutdown

MONTREAL— Canadian air traffic controllers have bought hundreds of pizzas for their U.S. counterparts over the past few days in what has become an industry-wide show of support during the U.S. government’s partial shutdown.

Peter Duffey, the head of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Assoc., said the initiative began Thursday when employees at Edmonton’s control centre took up a collection to buy pies for controllers in Anchorage, Alaska. The idea snowballed.

“The next thing we knew, our members were buying pizzas left, right and centre for their colleagues in the U.S. As it stands right now, I believe we’re up to 36 facilities that have received pizza from Canada.”

Duffey estimates as of Sunday afternoon, 300 pizzas had been received by American controllers, many of whom took to social media to express gratitude.

Duffey said many union members had been looking for a way to show solidarity with their American colleagues, who have been working without pay due to the partial shutdown.

Ron Singer, media manager for Nav Canada, which manages the country’s civil air navigation, says Canadian and American air traffic controllers interact “on a daily basis” as they manage North American airspace. “There’s a bond there, automatically.”