The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States announced on Sunday night (October 19th) that as the U.S. government shutdown entered its 19th day, the ongoing issue of understaffed air traffic controllers was causing flight delays at airports in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Newark, and other cities.
According to the FAA, many reports have been received from various airports indicating a shortage of staff for the night shifts on Sunday, potentially leading to flight delays in Las Vegas and Phoenix due to absentee air traffic control personnel.
Data from the flight tracking website FlightAware showed that on Sunday, over 5800 flights were delayed. Weather conditions and the Formula 1 Grand Prix race taking place in Austin, Texas, also contributed to disruptions in flight operations.
FlightAware data revealed that both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines experienced over 20% of their flights delayed on Sunday.
During the government shutdown period, approximately 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees were required to work without pay.
Since the start of the government shutdown earlier this month, there have been over 23,000 flight delays within the first week. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned that 53% of the delays were due to staffing shortages, significantly higher than the usual delay rate of 5%. However, efforts have been made in the past week to address the personnel allocation issues.
Air traffic control has become a focal point of the government shutdown dispute, with both Democrats and Republicans blaming each other. Labor unions and airlines are urging both parties to quickly resolve the deadlock.
During the 35-day government shutdown in Trump’s first term in 2019, the absence of federal employees receiving pay led to an increase in absentee rates among air traffic controllers and TSA officials, resulting in longer wait times at airport security checkpoints. Authorities had to reduce air traffic flow in New York and Washington, putting pressure on lawmakers to swiftly end the deadlock.
Currently, the FAA is reportedly short of approximately 3,500 air traffic controllers, well below the target staffing levels. Even before the government shutdown, many controllers were already in a state of mandatory overtime and working six days a week.
(Reference: Reuters)