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Image credit – iStock-619394704Last Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said that air traffic control staffing problems had delayed travel at the airports of Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta and Newark, marking the 19th day of the US government shutdown.
The FAA said a large number of staffing requests were made for the evening shift, and flights may also be delayed in Las Vegas and Phoenix due to air traffic control furloughs.
Flightaware said more than 5,800 flights were delayed on Sunday. Weather problems and the Formula 1 race in Austin also affected flights.
More than 20 percent of American Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights were delayed Sunday, according to Flashaware.
About 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees are scheduled to work but are not paid during the government shutdown.
Earlier this month, more than 23,000 flights were delayed in one week, and transport secretary Sean Duffy said 53 percent of flight delays were 53 percent, compared with 5 percent normally, but staffing problems have worsened over the past week.
Air traffic control has become a flashpoint in the dispute, with both sides blaming the other for the shutdown. Unions and airlines have called for a swift end to the standoff.
The Trump Administration has Democrats at some airport security checkpoints, but many airports have refused to operate them.
In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of controls by controllers and TSA officers drove workers away, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports. Officials have been forced to slow down air traffic in New York and Washington, D.C., which will quickly end the bills.
The FAA has about 3,500 air traffic controllers below target employee levels, and many were forced to work overtime and a six-day week even in the face of the shutdown.
