The is having a large impact on air travel; air traffic controller staffing issues caused by the closed government have led to delays in multiple major airports. In some cases, pilots have been forced to move to alternative workflows.
Because Controllers are essential workers, they must continue to work despite the shutdown, but they are not being paid.
Twelve Federal Aviation Administration facilities faced staffing shortages on Monday evening. Control towers in Burbank, Phoenix and Denver had “staffing triggers” that were reported in the public FAA operations plan. Other towers handling air traffic for airports in Newark, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Jacksonville, Florida were short-staffed.
Burbank Airport saw the most dramatic impact from the government shutdown as its control tower shut down entirely at 4:15 p.m. on Monday.
Flights were able to take off and land at the airport, but had to operate the same way small airports without control towers do. Delays extending past two and a half hours were reported.
Denver International and Newark Liberty International airports had ground delays as flights were prohibited from taking off until controllers could handle them.
Controllers have increasingly called out sick since the start of the shutdown last week, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a news conference on Monday.
Government shutdown disrupts air travel as controller staffing issues cause major delays
