WASHINGTON: Air traffic control staffing issues are delaying travel at airports in New York, Washington, Newark and Houston, the Federal Aviation Administration said late on Thursday (Oct 23), as a US government shutdown hit its 23rd day.
The FAA was reporting staffing issues at 10 different locations and issued ground stops at Houston Bush and Newark airports. Flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were being delayed an average of 31 minutes and delays at New York LaGuardia were averaging 62 minutes.
Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work without pay during the government shutdown.
FlightAware, a flight tracking site, said more than 4,200 US flights had been delayed Thursday, including more than 15 per cent of flights at Reagan, Newark and LaGuardia and 13 per cent at Bush.
Federal officials are worried that absences by controllers may increase over the weekend. Controllers will miss their first full paycheck on Tuesday.
“We fear there will be significant flight delays, disruptions and cancellations in major airports across the country this holiday season,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Democrats reject the contention that they are responsible and say it is President Donald Trump and Republicans who refuse to negotiate.
Air traffic control has become a flashpoint in the debate over the shutdown with both parties blaming the other. Unions and airlines have urged a quick end to the standoff.
In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington, which put pressure on lawmakers to end that standoff.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.
