CNN, Washington: A pilot preparing to take off Monday from Hollywood Burbank Airport in California took the routine step of radioing the air traffic control tower.
But instead of the usual back-and-forth conversation of coordinating departure, the pilot received a different response: “The tower is closed due to staffing,” according to audio recorded by LiveATC.net.
The exchange is one example of the impact the ongoing government shutdown is having on travelers across the US as air traffic controller staffing issues have led to delays at major airports and forced pilots in some areas to pivot to alternative workflows.
Controllers are considered essential workers, so they must work during the shutdown, but are not being paid.
Twelve Federal Aviation Administration facilities saw staffing shortages Monday night. The control towers in Burbank, Phoenix and Denver had so called “staffing triggers” reported in the public FAA operations plan. Other facilities that handle air traffic around airports in Newark, New Jersey; Jacksonville, Florida; Chicago, Washington, DC, and Indianapolis also were short staffed.
Perhaps the most dramatic impact was at the Burbank airport where the control tower was entirely shut down around 4:15 p.m. Monday afternoon. Flights could take off and land but had to follow procedures typically used at small airports without control towers. Delays of more than two and a half hours were reported at one point.
Denver International and Newark Liberty International airports saw ground delays where flights were prohibited from taking off until controllers were able to handle them. Both airports are major hubs for United Airlines; the airline did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The number of controllers calling out sick has increased since the start of the shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a news conference Monday after talking with controllers in the tower at Newark.
“So now what they think about as they’re controlling our airspace, is, ‘How am I going to pay my mortgage? How do I make my car payment?’” he said. “Do I think they’re more stressed right now in our towers? Yes. Is our airspace unsafe? No.”
During this shutdown, Duffy said, the government will do what is necessary to keep the airspace safe.
“If we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” he said, foreshadowing the delays seen later in the day.
The 35-day government shutdown that stretched from December 2018 to January 2019 ended after 10 air traffic controllers stayed home, snarling air traffic. The delays, coupled with TSA agents calling out sick causing backups at security checkpoints, led to the end of that shutdown.
Organized job actions like strikes are prohibited by federal law, but since air traffic control staffing is so tight a small number of employees taking unscheduled time off could be enough to cause major problems.
“If someone has to take sick leave to drive Uber to make the difference, those are decisions they’re going to make themselves,” Duffy said, calling for an end to the shutdown, which he blames on congressional Democrats. “I don’t want them finding a second job to pay them, a job to pay the bills. I want them to get paid for the work they’re doing today, keeping our planes in the air.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union which represents controllers, said the problems highlight a decades long staffing shortage.
“It is normal for a few air traffic controllers to … call in sick on any given day, and this is the latest example of how fragile our aviation system is in the midst of a national shortage of these critical safety professionals,” NATCA said in a statement. “Nearly 11,000 fully certified controllers remain on the job, many working 10-hour shifts as many as six days a week, showing extraordinary dedication to safely guiding millions of passengers to their destinations–all without getting paid during this shutdown.”
