US airports are under serious strain from a shortage of air traffic controllers. On this one-day count, they tracked more than 20 events related to this crisis. This staffing issue has forced authorities to implement ground stops and slow air traffic, particularly in major hubs like New York and Washington, D.C. By noon ET on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was reporting shortfalls at six airports. The aviation sector is suffering from acute and ongoing staffing shortages.
This crisis is reminiscent of the 35-day government shutdown in 2019 that decimated air traffic control staffing. Around that same time, controller and TSA officer absences skyrocketed, resulting in longer wait times at airport checkpoints. At least 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers were among those who worked without pay during the 35-day shutdown. This condition created a firestorm of concern over safety and operational effectiveness.
On Sunday, a ground stop was issued at Los Angeles International Airport at approximately 11:30 am ET due to the shortage of air traffic controllers. This move shows in real time how staffing shortages directly affect the traveling public with affected passengers experiencing delays and cancellations.
The controllers are wearing thin,” warned a recently Duffy from Reuters, emphasizing the increasing strain on air traffic staff during such scarcities. The crisis, of course, has only deepened as controllers continue to look for supplemental work, working second jobs to make up for lost income.
As NATCA President Nick Daniels testified, these dire conditions take a terrible toll on workers. We were 100 percent adamant that we were deeply concerned for their health. He remarked, “With each passing day, controllers become more distracted by the risk of receiving a zero-dollar paycheck on 28 October, despite working 40 hours per week and, in many cases, mandatory overtime due to the controller staffing shortage.”
The FAA found 22 “triggers” that show shortages in staffing on just Saturday alone, highlighting the critical infrastructure at risk in this situation. The threat of zero paychecks is increased by forced overtime that has many controllers exhausted and burnt out.
Dave Spero, President of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO (Pass), had a particularly ominous shot across the bow. He showed how extended government shutdowns would threaten aviation safety. “For every day the government is shut down and employees in the aviation ecosystem are still furloughed, another layer of safety may be peeled away,” he stated.
Just how long it takes to train a new air traffic controller is three to five years. This long lead time makes it hard to act quickly to fill the staffing shortage. These mounting staff recruitment and retention challenges have continued to leave the aviation industry susceptible to such widespread disruptions.