Widespread Flight Delays Impact Newark Due To Gov't Shutdown

NEWARK,NJ — Flights at Newark Liberty International Airport saw significant delays Friday due to staffing shortages, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Nationwide delays, reportedly caused by a shortage of air traffic controllers due to the government shutdown, impacted several airports along the East Coast.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported delays up to 1 hour at Newark Airport, while flights into LaGuardia were temporarily halted.

The FAA reported the following conditions at Newark Airport:

• “Due to OTHER / STAFFING, departure traffic destined to La Guardia Airport, New York, NY (LGA) is currently experiencing delays averaging 1 hour and 26 minutes."
• "Due to TM INITIATIVES:METERING:STAFFING ZDC, traffic is experiencing Gate Hold and Taxi delays between 45 minutes and 59 minutes in length and decreasing."
• "Arrival traffic is experiencing airborne delays of 15 minutes or less."

The FAA confirmed it had initiated procedures to adjust flights at Newark and Philadelphia International Airport because of an increase in sick calls by controllers, USA Today reported.

“We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two facilities,” a spokesman for the FAA said in a statement to USA Today. “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. The public can monitor air traffic at fly.faa.gov and they should check with airline carriers for more information.”

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Air traffic controllers at Newark Airport are among at least 5,000 furloughed federal government employees in New Jersey who have been going without salaries for weeks as a result of the shutdown, which started with a bitter budget battle between Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Other federal employees working without pay at Newark Airport include customs inspectors and TSA screeners.

Earlier this week, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Paul Rinaldi, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) President Joe DePete, and Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) President Sara Nelson released a joint statement about the ongoing pay situation.

The union leaders wrote:

"We have a growing concern for the safety and security of our members, our airlines, and the traveling public due to the government shutdown. This is already the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States and there is no end in sight. In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented.

“Due to the shutdown, air traffic controllers, transportation security officers, safety inspectors, air marshals, federal law enforcement officers, FBI agents, and many other critical workers have been working without pay for over a month. Staffing in our air traffic control facilities is already at a 30-year low and controllers are only able to maintain the system’s efficiency and capacity by working overtime, including 10-hour days and 6-day workweeks at many of our nation’s busiest facilities. Due to the shutdown, the FAA has frozen hiring and shuttered its training academy, so there is no plan in effect to fill the FAA’s critical staffing need. Even if the FAA were hiring, it takes two to four years to become fully facility certified and achieve Certified Professional Controller (CPC) status. Almost 20% of CPCs are eligible to retire today. There are no options to keep these professionals at work without a paycheck when they can no longer afford to support their families. When they elect to retire, the National Airspace System (NAS) will be crippled.

“The situation is changing at a rapid pace. Major airports are already seeing security checkpoint closures, with many more potentially to follow. Safety inspectors and federal cyber security staff are not back on the job at pre-shutdown levels, and those not on furlough are working without pay. Last Saturday, TSA management announced that a growing number of officers cannot come to work due to the financial toll of the shutdown. In addition, we are not confident that system-wide analyses of safety reporting data, which is used to identify and implement corrective actions in order to reduce risks and prevent accidents is 100 percent operational due to reduced FAA resources.

“As union leaders, we find it unconscionable that aviation professionals are being asked to work without pay and in an air safety environment that is deteriorating by the day. To avoid disruption to our aviation system, we urge Congress and the White House to take all necessary steps to end this shutdown immediately."

TSA SCREENERS CALLING OUT SICK

As social media stories of excruciatingly long wait times at Newark Airport mount, many travelers have also been reporting a conspicuous lack of TSA agents at security checkpoints over the past weeks.

While specific data for Newark Airport wasn't available, a TSA spokesperson told Patch, the agency's national stats from Martin Luther King Jr. Day showed that the unscheduled absence rate, 7.5%, was more than double that of Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, at 3.3%.

"Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations," TSA officials said Tuesday, commenting on the national data.

• See related article: TSA Screeners Call Out Sick As Newark Airport Sees Delays

With additional reporting by Eric Kiefer, Patch staff

Image via Jenna Fisher/Patch

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