U.S. airlines urged President Trump and Congress to end the longest government shutdown in the country’s history as a shortage of air traffic controllers delayed hundreds of flights Friday at two of New York City’s primary airports.
Flights into LaGuardia were temporarily halted, and 237 arrivals — about 38 percent of the total — as well as 228 take-offs had been delayed by mid-day, according to FlightAware, the world’s largest flight-tracking service. At Newark-Liberty in New Jersey, about a half-hour outside Manhattan, 111 arrivals and 98 departures encountered setbacks.
The Federal Aviation Administration, whose traffic controllers have been working without pay for more than a month, blamed a “slight increase” in sick leave at two sites for the delays and said it was working to reroute some flights and slow others.
The union for air traffic controllers and heads of two of the biggest U.S. airlines had warned just a day earlier that shortages were likely to increase as workers are forced to seek other jobs to cover their bills, impeding air travel nationwide. New York is the largest U.S. city as well as a hub for the banking and media industries, which will likely increase the impact of the airport woes and heighten pressure on Washington.
“We’re working closely with FAA and airport officials to try to minimize the impact on our operations and, most importantly, on our customers,” a United spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “It is another good illustration of the escalating impact of the government shutdown and the need for the federal government to promptly re-open.”
The partial closure began in late December when Trump refused to sign any government funding bill that didn’t include $5.7 billion for a wall he wants to build along the southern U.S. border, money that Congress has so far refused to provide. The shutdown has since shaved about $1.2 billion a week from U.S. growth as reviews of new medicines, corporate mergers, and stock offerings are delayed, and some 800,000 government workers go without pay.
“This is horrendous,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a Twitter post on Friday. “The human cost is only going to increase and more and more Americans are going to suffer.
This is horrendous. @realDonaldTrump must give up his racist wall and Republicans in Congress must vote NOW to end this shutdown. The human cost is only going to increase and more and more Americans are going to suffer. https://t.co/TZ93cDv9Z3
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 25, 2019
Southwest Airlines, whose CEO said the shutdown would curb early 2019 sales by as much as $15 million, was monitoring delays at LaGuardia on Friday and encouraged passengers to check the Dallas-based carrier’s website for the most current information.
“Everyone needs to be on notice, on guard, that this shutdown could harm the economy and it could harm air travel,” Kelly said in a blunt warning during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. “We will do everything we can to find a way to work through this slop.”
The #TrumpShutdown is now wreaking havoc at our nation’s airports, including LaGuardia. We must stop this madness.https://t.co/nbAOxCANJo
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 25, 2019
Delta Air Lines reported about 200 flight delays at LaGuardia and other Northeast airports by late Friday morning, a spokesman said, noting that the airline was working to accommodate the affected passengers’ schedules.
“We must stop this madness,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who blamed the problems at LaGuardia on what he called the “Trump shutdown.”
Mounting bills have also led to higher sick leave requests from Transportation Security Administration workers, who examine passengers and luggage for potential threats, further disrupting air travel.
Because of the industry’s necessary focus on safety, however, a shortage of TSA staffers will likely mean longer lines rather than less scrutiny, said Doug Parker, CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based American.
“We’re putting a strain on” workers who are missing paychecks, “and that will, at some point, result in people not being at work,” he said. “When we don’t have enough TSA agents, you’ll see longer lines. When we don’t have enough air traffic controllers, you’ll see more delays in airspace. Those would be bad things.”
