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As the shutdown nears its 35th day, all flights were experiencing delays of an hour or more at Liberty International Airport Friday morning due to staffing issues, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Flights were temporarily restricted i and out of LaGuardia Airport, and Philadelphia International Airport was experiencing significant delays as well -- namely due to a shortage of air-traffic controllers, federal officials said.
“We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two facilities,” a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
“We’ve mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic and increasing spacing between aircraft when needed. The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system.”
Travelers were less than pleased.
Newark Airport's air traffic controllers are among the more than 5,000 furloughed federal government employees who have been without salaries for weeks as a result of the government shutdown.
The FAA website reported that due to staffing issues, departure traffic is subject to a ground delay program. The FAA advised that travelers check their departure airport to see if their flights may have been impacted.
"The Trump Shutdown has claimed more victims: some of our nation’s busiest airports," Congresswoman Nita Lowey wrote in an email. "After 35 days, the president and Republicans must end the shutdown, get federal employees like air traffic controllers paid and back to work, and then join Democrats for serious negotiations on border security.”
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