The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States announced on Sunday, October 26, that flights to Los Angeles International Airport were temporarily grounded due to staffing shortages. Multiple airports across the country experienced hours-long flight delays.
On October 26, flights to and from the San Francisco Bay Area were temporarily halted for nearly two hours at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
In the afternoon on Sunday, LAX confirmed that the grounding was due to staffing issues at Oakland Airport in California. The airport stated in a release: “Ground stop measures were in place from 8:45 am to 10:30 am this morning, and LAX operations have now returned to normal.”
Following days of construction closure of Terminal 5, LAX implemented temporary grounding measures for connecting flights to the San Francisco region. This construction project required JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, and American Airlines to operate out of other terminals.
According to the latest bulletin released by the FAA before 5:30 pm Eastern Time on Sunday, flights at Chicago O’Hare International Airport experienced delays of 50 minutes or more due to staffing shortages.
Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey also faced over two hours of ground delays due to staffing problems.
Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers experienced disruptions in takeoffs and landings on Sunday.
The Epoch Times contacted the FAA for comments and received an automated statement regarding the staffing shortage of air traffic controllers.
The statement mentioned: “As Secretary Duffy has pointed out, the entire system is facing increasingly severe staffing shortages. When such situations arise, the FAA will reduce flight traffic at certain airports to ensure safe operations.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy expressed sympathy for employees who continue to work despite not receiving their pay due to the government shutdown.
Duffy posted on social media on Sunday, saying, “On Tuesday, 13,000 air traffic controllers will go unpaid because Democrats are holding the government hostage. I refuse to see controllers resorting to food banks! It’s unacceptable for them to worry about putting food on the table.”
During the partial government shutdown in the United States, critical federal workers like air traffic controllers were required to work without pay. This current shutdown has become the second-longest government closure in U.S. history.
On October 22, a temporary funding bill backed by Republicans was blocked in the Senate for the 12th time as it failed to receive the necessary 60 votes.
Republicans blamed Democrats for the federal funding lapse, accusing them of obstructing the passage of a “clean” resolution without policy add-ons.
However, Democrats stated that they would not restart government operations unless Republicans consider their healthcare proposals, addressing issues such as tax subsidies under the Affordable Care Act set to expire on December 31st.
Translated and rephrased from the original article “US Airports Hit With Hours-Long Delays Due to ‘Staffing Issues’ Amid Government Shutdown” published in the English edition of The Epoch Times.