It hasn’t been a good year for federal aviation safety workers. One Federal Aviation Administration engineer who works on air traffic systems says the shutdown has left them overwhelmed and worried about their colleagues. Prior to the shutdown, the FAA announced plans to furlough some 11,300 workers, who help maintain airspace design, infrastructure, and technology. Longtime air safety workers describe this month’s shutdown and funding lapse—the fourth in the past two decades—as familiar, but more unsettling than shutdowns past. Air safety workers are afraid that the situation could get even worse, and the contractors who support vital functions could still be furloughed.