Staffing shortages led to increased flight delays at various U.S. airports on Tuesday as the federal government shutdown continued into its seventh day. Union leaders for air traffic controllers and airport security screeners cautioned that the situation could deteriorate further.
The Federal Aviation Administration noted staffing challenges at airports in Nashville, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, as well as its air traffic control centers in Atlanta and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Consequently, the agency temporarily slowed the takeoffs for planes heading to the first three cities.
Major flight delays reported the previous day were also linked to staffing shortages due to the shutdown that began on October 1. The FAA mentioned delays on Monday at Burbank, California, Newark, New Jersey, and Denver airports.
Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt highlighted that the risk of major disruptions to the U.S. aviation system “is growing by the day” as essential federal workers continue to operate without pay. If the shutdown persists, it threatens to impact holiday travel plans in November, he explained.
“I’m gravely concerned that if the government remains shut down then, it could disrupt, and potentially ruin, millions of Americans’ Thanksgiving holidays,” Harteveldt stated.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted on Monday that there has been a rise in air traffic controllers calling in sick at several locations. When controller numbers fall short, the FAA must limit the number of takeoffs and landings for safety reasons, which can lead to further flight delays and possible cancellations.
That’s what happened Monday afternoon, when the control tower at Southern California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport shut down for several hours, leading to average delays of two-and-a-half hours.
When a pilot preparing for takeoff radioed the tower, according to communications recorded by LiveATC.net, he was told: “The tower is closed due to staffing.”
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the shutdown highlighted some of his union’s members already face on a regular basis due to a national airspace system that is critically understaffed and relies on outdated equipment that tends to fail.
A couple of controllers missing work can have a big impact at a small airport already operating with limited tower staffing, he said.
“It’s not like we have other controllers that can suddenly come to that facility and staff them. There’s not enough people there,” Daniels said Tuesday. “There’s no overtime, and you have to be certified in that facility.”
Air travel complications are likely to expand once a regularly scheduled payday arrives next week and air traffic controllers and TSA officers don’t receive any money, the union leader said. If the impasse between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on reopening the government persists, the workers will come under more pressure as their personal bills come due, Daniels said.
“It’s going to eventually be that when people don’t have money, they have time to start making life choices and life decisions,” he said.
Daniels said it’s not realistic to expect controllers to stay focused only on their difficult jobs of keeping flights safe while they aren’t getting paid even if they eventually should be entitled to back pay.
“That’s not reality and it shouldn’t be put on our backs,” he said. “It’s completely unfair that an air traffic controller is the one that holds the burden of ‘see how long you can hang in there in order to allow this political process to play out?’”
Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter that represents TSA workers, said he was hearing questions like “How are we going to handle paying our bills?” and “How are we going to pay our child support? How are you going to pay for childcare? How are you going to pay your mortgage payments? If I have to miss work, am I going to get terminated?”
“The employees are struggling. They’re assessing what they need to do and they’re assessing how this is all going to work out,” said Jones, who has worked as a screener since the TSA was established.
Some TSA officers already have called in sick, but Jones said he ddid not think the numbers were big enough to cause significant problems and delays at airports.
Aviation unions and U.S. airlines have called for the shutdown to end as soon as possible.
The unions are also making appeals to food banks, grocery chains and airports to secure support for workers during the shutdown. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was offering federal workers $15 food vouchers and allowing them to park in the terminal, according to Jones.
John Tiliacos, the chief operating officer of Florida’s Tampa International Airport, said the facility started preparing for the shutdown well before it began.
Nicknamed “Operation Bald Eagle 2” among airport staff, the efforts center around pulling together resources for the roughly 11,000 federal employees who are working at the airport without pay, including security screeners and air traffic controllers.
Tiliacos said the help would include a food pantry, free bus rides to work and a program with the local utility provider to keep the lights on at the homes of the workers.
“Whatever we can do to make life a little easier for these federal employees that allows them to continue coming to work and focus on keeping our airport operational, that’s what we’re prepared to do,” he said.
Tampa’s airport provided similar resources for impacted workers when the government closed for 35 days in 2018 and 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term. Tiliacos said he thinks the assistance helped prevent the widespread staffing shortages that other airports experienced during that shutdown. ,
