The air traffic control tower was left unmanned at Burbank airport last evening. The reason? Air traffic controllers have started calling out in huge numbers as the government shutdown takes effect. Thankfully, at Burbank airport, passengers didn’t see any cancelled flights. However, a few passengers endured slight delays with their flights.
As the political gridlock continues in Washington DC, more government services are starting to feel the pressure. Moreover, this comes at a time when many government agencies are already dealing with staffing shortages.
Government Shutdown Effect: Air Traffic Control Goes Dark
As per ABC news, Hollywood Burbank Airport’s air traffic control tower went dark starting at 4.15 PM on Monday. Also, the FAA, fearing that tower could have been left unmanned until as late as 10 PM, rushed in to make a stopgap arrangement.
Eyewitness News spoke to Burbank Airport air traffic controllers, who confirmed they were heading home at 4:15 p.m. They said they were handing off their duties to Southern California TRACON, an approach and departure team out of San Diego, who will talk to the pilots who will be landing and taking off at Burbank Airport.
On Monday, we entered day six of the Government Shutdown. Generally, Air traffic controllers are supposed to continue operations, as their services are deemed as essential services. However, the Government Shutdown means no pay for now for the people who perform these essential services, which means that the FAA will have to deal with more personnel issues.
“We are tracking sick calls, sick leave. Have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes. And you’ll see delays that come from that, right? Because again, our priority, again, I want to see your flight not be delayed. I don’t want you canceled, but our priorities are safety. So if we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said.
The Pundit’s Mantra
As the Government Shutdown and the political gridlock continues, we’re starting to see more and more pressure on essential services. At the same time, both the FAA and the TSA are already facing staffing shortages, which only makes things worse.
As per ABC, air traffic control towers and airport security checkpoints employ thousands of people.
Control towers and airport security checkpoints are still staffed, with about 13,200 air traffic controllers and more than 61,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees expected to remain on the job.
While deemed as essential services, they’re expected to continue during the Government Shutdown. However, as the shutdown drags on and employees start to feel the pinch in their wallets, there’s bound to be more pressure on the system as more employees start to opt out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Have an interesting travel story? Subscribe to my podcast and join the conversation
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
New Credit Card Offers
American Express Business Credit Cards
- Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards points with the Business Platinum Card
- Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards and enjoy a 0% intro APR on the Business Gold Card
Chase Sapphire Cards
- Earn 125,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
- Earn 200,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card for Business
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss out on the deals, news and travel industry trends. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and Twitter to keep getting the latest content!
Why can’t democrats let the red-state ACA Medicaid recipients suffer, cave in with the R and be done with this? We don’t need to subsidize rural hospitals if folks in rural areas can’t afford healhtchare.