Government Shutdown Is Causing Flight Delays to Spiral

A shortage of air traffic controllers has crippled operations across the nation’s airports, triggering widespread flight delays as the federal government shutdown drags into its 20th consecutive day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Monday.

According to FlightAware, approximately 7,850 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed on Sunday alone. By early Monday, over 1,000 additional flights had already been impacted.

The FAA attributed major slowdowns at airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Newark over the weekend to staffing shortages, Reuters reported. The agency also warned of potential delays in Las Vegas and Phoenix for the same reason.

“As [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy has said, there have been increased staffing shortages across the system. When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations,” an FAA spokesperson told The Hill.

Reuters also noted that poor weather conditions and the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin contributed to additional delays on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Duffy told Fox Business that “53 percent of flight delays were caused by staffing issues,” describing it as a sharp increase from the typical rate of around five percent.

Currently, around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees continue to work without pay during the prolonged shutdown.

Aviation analysts have cautioned that delays may worsen as unpaid employees begin to call out sick, echoing what occurred during the 2019 government shutdown.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been broadcasting videos in airports blaming Democrats for refusing to fund the government’s reopening—though many airports have chosen not to air them.

The shutdown has now entered the record books as the third-longest in U.S. history.

{Matzav.com}