Travelers endure flight delays
FAA reported increase in sick leave as the cause
Travelers endured widespread flight delays in the Northeast as federal officials grappled with a shortage of air traffic controllers, who missed paychecks Friday because of the partial government shutdown.
LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were the hardest hit, but delays rippled across the nation’s air-travel system.
The disruptions are the strongest evidence yet that the 35-day government shutdown threatens to snarl the nation’s air travel system.
Air traffic controllers and airport security agents have been working without pay since the federal shutdown began in December, and rising absentee rates have led to longer airport lines.
The Federal Aviation Administration saw delays Friday because of a “slight increase in sick leave” at air-traffic control centers that handle traffic over New York and Florida, said agency spokesman Gregory Martin. He said the FAA adjusted to meet available staffing by, among other things, rerouting flights and putting more space between planes in the air.
At the center in Leesburg, Virginia, six of the 13 controllers scheduled to work Friday were absent. That center handles air traffic on its way to and from the New York area and the Mid-Atlantic states.
The result was “minimal impacts to efficiency” while maintaining safety, Martin said.
President Donald Trump was informed of the situation.
“The President has been briefed and we are monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports,” spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “We are in regular contact with officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA.”
At LaGuardia, travelers learned of delayed flights from announcements over PA systems.
“The shutdown hit home, finally,” said Sanjay Shetty, a management consultant from Ann Arbor, Michigan, as he waited to board a delayed plane to Detroit.
Shetty tried to shrug it off. “I travel every week, and nothing surprises me.”
By early afternoon, more than 2,400 U.S. flights had been delayed, according to tracking service FlightAware, although the situation seemed to be improving from earlier in the day.
The government shutdown is now the longest ever, as Trump and congressional Democrats remain deadlocked over the president’s demand for $5.7 billion to build part of a barrier on the border with Mexico. About 420,000 government employees including air traffic controllers and TSA agents are working without pay; another 380,000 are furloughed.
They will be paid once the shutdown ends, but in the meantime, many are describing financial hardships, relying on food banks, and worrying whether they can pay the rent or mortgage.