Staff Shortages Cripple Flights In Northeast; Delays Elsewhere

Some of the nation’s major airports are reporting big delays Friday due to federal aviation worker sick callouts during the longest partial government shutdown in history. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly halted flights into New York City's LaGuardia Airport Friday, which affected air travel across the country.

The FAA stopped flights into LaGuardia Friday because of staff shortages, causing significant delays across the Northeast and elsewhere, two days after aviation workers released a statement warning the shutdown poses serious risks to both its members and travelers.

“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,” the statement read.

The FAA canceled the halt mid-morning Friday, but some arriving flights had been delayed by an average of about an hour and 26 minutes, the agency said on its website.

Read More: Flights Into LaGuardia Stopped Amid Shutdown

Click this link to find out if flights to your local airport have been delayed.

The halt on air traffic into LaGuardia came as the partial government shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — enters its 35th day. Friday also marks the second missed paycheck for the 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed during the dispute over border wall funding. Transportation Security Adminsitration workers and air traffic controllers who are critical to air safety are among those working without pay.

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said President Trump is closely monitoring the stiuation.

"The President has been briefed and we are monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports," she said. "We are in regular contact with officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA."

"At this point, we don’t anticipate significant schedule disruptions, but 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 airline said.

Delta Airlines said about 200 of its flights had been delayed at LaGuardia and other airports in the Northeast. The airline said it is working to "reacommodate customers to their destinations," and encouraged customers traveling Friday to check the status of their flight at delta.com or with the Fly Delta App.

About 50 pecent of all the flight delays nationwide originated in the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania airspace, according to U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President Jonathan Grella.

He said in a statement that Friday's air traffic control delays "are the strongest indication yet that the shutdown runs the risk of sending immediate shockwaves through the economy."

Additionally, Grella the travel delays would have "a ripple effect on travelers across the country, and impact the economy and jobs in every corner of the U.S."

LaGuardia-bound flights from Newark International and Philadelphia International airports were delayed an average of 41 minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

“We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two air traffic control facilities affecting New York and Florida," the FAA said in a statement. "As with severe storms, we will adjust operations to a safe rate to match available controller resources. We've mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft as needed.

"The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system," the statement continued. "The public can monitor air traffic atfly.faa.gov and they should check with airline carriers for more information."

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images