SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco International Airport is asking its restaurants and retailers to slash prices by 50 percent for federal government employees who are continuing to work at the airport without pay as the federal government shutdown continues.
In a news release Friday, the airport said it made the request this week and plans to adjust its fee structure to protect voluntarily participating concession operators from any financial impacts.
“This program demonstrates how our airport community comes together to support one another,” said Airport Director Ivar C. Satero.
“Our goal is to ease the financial hardship on federal government employees at SFO who are personally affected by this government shutdown,” Satero continued. “We appreciate the work of our airport concessions, and we will continue to seek out ways to help our affected teammates.”
In addition, the airport is providing resource sheets to help federal employees access assistance services, and its business and career center plans to offer “shutdown support” drop-in hours where workers can meet with specialists on managing financial challenges.
The affected employees hail from federal agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration, Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration.
As the shutdown enters its fifth week, California leaders are mobilizing to give all federal employees in the state unemployment benefits, but the federal government is pushing back against the move and could potentially take legal action. President Trump, meanwhile, is expected to make a “major announcement” Saturday afternoon on the shutdown.
