Today, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO (PASS) criticized the announcement last week that the civilian federal workforce will receive no pay increase for calendar year 2027.

Under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act, the president is required to submit an alternative pay plan by September 1 of each year in order to keep larger raises from taking effect. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday, the president submitted a plan that would freeze the pay of the federal workforce.

As most employees are aware, the FAA plans to significantly realign many organizations within the agency. PASS was specifically briefed on the realignment this week. The briefing particularly focused on any impacts to lines of business where PASS bargaining unit employees currently work. The agency emphasized that this is deliberately referred to as a realignment because the intent is for there to be no changes to pay, grade, bands, work locations or job assignments. It was explained that this realigns management lines of reporting. The changes are expected to be implemented in October 2026. PASS is still in the process of evaluating and reviewing the proposed realignment and will provide more details when they become available. Below are the briefing materials provided to PASS.

The FAA’s ambitious plans to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system (called BNATCS by the administration) represents one of the most significant efforts impacting the National Airspace System (NAS) and the FAA Technical Operations workforce responsible for maintaining it. Tech Ops employees are among the 11,000 FAA employees represented by PASS.

While modernization is necessary, the speed and process of these efforts must be tempered with ensuring the safety of the aviation system, which means that stakeholder involvement is essential. To that end, PASS has a dedicated representative to the FAA’s Program Management Office (PMO), and for the BNATCS. This PASS member ensures that the voice of front-line employees is heard.

PASS sends its condolences to the families and loved ones of the Jazz Aviation pilots killed in the crash at LaGuardia Airport on March 22, 2026. They were represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), one of PASS’s union partners in securing safe travel for millions of Americans every day. PASS mourns the loss of these aviation professionals and stands ready to assist in any way needed. However, the union will not comment any further on the tragic accident while investigations are underway.

Last year, PASS filed a grievance regarding the across-the-board cancellation of routine telework and remote work arrangements. A hearing was held before an arbitrator on July 9, 2025. After a delay related to the 2025 government shutdown, the arbitrator issued a decision this week in favor of PASS-represented employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The arbitrator determined that the FAA violated the parties’ collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), In large part, the arbitrator merely recognized the careful balance the FAA and PASS struck in developing rules around telework and remote work during contract negotiations from 2022–2024. Rather than guaranteeing specific telework schedules or remote work, the CBAs focus instead on the process to be utilized to determine which schedule can be available to employees. To that end, the arbitrator found that the CBAs call for routine telework requests and remote work arrangements to be determined on a case-by-case basis utilizing the criteria negotiated in good faith by the FAA and PASS.