WASHINGTON (The Guardian) - Staffing shortages at U.S. airports caused further disruption to air travelers on Wednesday as effects from the U.S. government shutdown, now in its seventh day, ripple out across the country.
Union leaders for air traffic controllers and airport security screeners have warned the situation is likely to get worse, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported staffing issues at airports in Nashville, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia, as well at its air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The airline regulator has slowed takeoffs at several airports this week as air traffic control facilities struggle to maintain staffing amid the federal government shutdown.
Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt told media that the risk of wider impacts to the U.S. aviation system “is growing by the day” and that the longer the shutdown goes on, the more likely it is to affect holiday travel plans in November.
Staffing shortages, including an elevated number of workers calling in sick at airports across the U.S., on Monday affected major airports around New York, Los Angeles and Denver on Monday, delaying over 6,000 flights across the U.S.
In Los Angeles, air traffic control at Burbank airport was closed and air traffic was handled by another facility. The Nashville airport was experiencing delays of around two hours because of staffing issues, the FAA said on its website on Tuesday. At Chicago’s O’Hare airport delays averaged 41 minutes, and at Dallas-Fort Worth delays were logged at 30 minutes, the FAA said.
About 92% of the more than 23,600 flights departing from U.S. airports as of Tuesday afternoon took off on time, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Despite the delays, the FAA had not issued a “staffing trigger” that would reduce the number of flights in and out of airports, NBC News said.
In a statement on its website, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the largest union representing air traffic controllers, said it did “not endorse, support, or condone any federal employees participating in or endorsing a coordinated activity that negatively affects the capacity” of the National Airspace System.
The union said “air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals take their responsibility to protect the safety of the flying public very seriously. Participating in a job action could result in removal from federal service. It is not only illegal, but it also undermines NATCA’s credibility and severely weakens our ability to effectively advocate for you and your families.”
Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, warned Tuesday that the country’s air traffic control system is being harmed by the ongoing government shutdown.
That comes as Donald Trump has signaled that some furloughed federal workers may not, as is customary, receive back pay when the government re-opens.