While the U.S. government has reached its eighth day of shutdown, disruptions across the air travel ecosystem have just started to snowball in effect. Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles County faced a total shutdown of air traffic control functions on Monday. As a consequence, the control tower was down for over 16 hours. Traffic management functions moved to a center in San Diego. This amendment highlights how deeply the current, partial shutdown is already impacting the traveling public—particularly air travelers.
Nashville International Airport in Tennessee similarly struggled with canceled and delayed flights after staffing shortages at its air traffic control tower hit critical levels. The service center ordered a temporary ground stop. Safety became the primary concern, as air traffic controllers could not handle the onslaught of new flights and had to divert traffic into the Memphis air traffic control center. These staffing deficits have led to massive flight cancelations across the nation. At Nashville, for example, passengers are facing waits of more than two hours, with delayed flights on average more than 2.5 hours delayed.
Air Traffic Control Staffing Shortages
Air traffic controllers, for instance, are designated as essential workers. With the unexpected shutdown all but guaranteed, well over 13,000 of them will have to perform their work without pay. As the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has admitted, we are in — “There has been a greater staffing shortage throughout the system. When that occurs, the FAA causes delays into certain airports— a calmer traffic flow helps maintain safety. This precautionary measure is intended to ensure that safety standards are upheld even in the context of a stretched-thin workforce.
Beyond Burbank and Nashville, dozens of airports around the country are facing similar delays and operational challenges. The FAA is disappointed to see that other sections of the DOT are already dark. This is caused by a failure in appropriations meaning, for some employees, furlough status. While the construction may ultimately be beneficial, many travelers are wondering how long these disruptions will continue. They’re concerned about what happens if the shutdown drags on.
Ripple Effects on Air Travel
This government shutdown is doing much more than inconveniencing air traffic control. Unfortunately, travelers are currently experiencing the effects with significant wait times at many major airports. In reality, previous shutdowns led to massive TSA lines. So far, as of this writing, widespread TSA operations have been affected without any direct impact. The timing of the shutdown’s uncertainty has now begun throwing travelers into a panic.
We know many of you are concerned about your upcoming travel. They’re incredibly anxious to know whether or not they’ll arrive at their destinations punctually. At these major airports, like Nashville, the delays are becoming extreme. Travelers need to remain flexible and aware of their flights’ statuses and safety conditions, and make decisions ahead of time.
