- The FAA is reporting safety-related flight delays due to air traffic controller staffing shortages.
- Over 9,000 flight delays occurred in two days of the shutdown, according to FlightAware.
- Air traffic controller union warns against any coordinated job action that harms flight safety or causes delays.
As the nations enters the second week of a government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration has braced for more airport staffing issues after staffing shortages began on Monday.
Over the last two days, a number of airports across the U.S. have reported delays due to air traffic controller staffing shortages, per NBC News. Because of the government shutdown, air traffic controllers started working without pay on Monday.
The delays do not appear to be widespread, including at Salt Lake International Airport, where no operational issues have been reported.
At the Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there had been a slight uptick in air traffic controllers calling out sick since the government shutdown began.
He emphasized that when there aren’t enough controllers working, the FAA has to reduce the number of takeoffs and landings to maintain safety, which leads to flight delays and possible cancellations.
“Our priorities are safety,” Duffy said, per NBC News. “And so, if we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people.”
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it does not “endorse, support, or condone” federal employees coordinating together to cause delays or affect flight safety.
“Participating in a job action could result in removal from federal service,” the union posted on its website. “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.”
These staffing shortages have caused a surge in the number of domestic and international flight delays in recent days. There were over 6,000 delays on Monday and over 3,000 on Tuesday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracker website.
It is possible that some of the delays have been due to poor weather conditions on the East Coast, per NBC News.
How is this impacting Utah?
Nancy Volmer with the Salt Lake City International Airport wrote in an email that “SLC is not currently experiencing any operational issues due to the shutdown.”
The Provo Airport also has not faced any operational issues from the government shutdown.
Airports around the country with the most delays
According to NBC News, the Federal Aviation Administration reported staffing issues at airports in a number of cities including Boston, Dallas, Nashville, Philadelphia and Chicago, as well as at air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
There were also airspace disruptions on Monday near a number of cities including Phoenix, Denver, Indianapolis, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Even with the staffing issues, around 92% of the over 23,600 flights departing from airports in the U.S. took off on time as of Tuesday afternoon, per CBS News.
Effects of the staffing issues have impacted flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport.
On Tuesday, 13% of the flights departing and 10% of flights arriving at the Atlanta airport were delayed. But other airports had a higher number of delays — 25% of flights departing from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were delayed.
Some of the biggest disruptions were felt at the Hollywood Burbank Airport near Los Angeles, California, which on Monday had average ground delays of 2½ hours. For over five hours on Monday, there were no air traffic controllers at the airport, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Flights out of the Newark airport were delayed for an average of 53 minutes and flights out of Denver were delayed by an average of 39 minutes, with some held up for almost two hours.
According to NPR, on Tuesday flights coming in and out of the Nashville airport were reduced by the FAA due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. The ground delay at Nashville turned into a ground stop from about 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time. It was the first ground stop associated with the government shutdown.