Flight delays due to staff shortages in air traffic control increased over the weekend and are expected to worsen as controllers face losing their first full paycheck on Tuesday, while Transport Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledges controllers ‘are exhausted’.
Key facts:
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warning issued at 11:41 a.m. EDT on Monday listed staffing shortage triggers, indicating understaffing, at two control facilities: the Atlanta Terminal Radar Approach Control Center (TRACON), responsible for the sequencing and separation of aircraft at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, and TRACON Southern California, which handles flights in and out of Los Angeles International Airport.
On Monday morning, restricted airflow due to staffing issues in Atlanta caused flight delays of 60 minutes, on average, while a ground delay at Los Angeles International Airport, due to staffing shortages, caused delays on average of 25 minutes.
More than 8,700 flights in U.S. airspace were delayed Sunday, according to FlightAware, with staffing shortages causing a temporary ground stop at Los Angeles International Airport and significant flight delays at Newark and Dallas.
Also read: US regulator and airlines are slow to address toxic smoke events on planes
Staffing shortage triggers were recorded at 22 air traffic control facilities on Saturday, the highest number since the government shutdown began, which Duffy told Fox News is “a sign that controllers are exhausted.”
Air traffic controllers will receive their first “zero check” on Tuesday after receiving a partial check on October 14.
Have sick calls from drivers increased during the lockdown?
“We have more people calling in sick, more people not showing up to work,” Duffy told Fox News on Sunday morning, adding, “My message to controllers has been to show up. That’s your job.” However, the FAA has seen a marked increase in staffing shortage triggers as the shutdown drags on, with nearly two dozen staffing shortages on Saturday, impacting a mix of TRACONs responsible for guiding aircraft in and out of airports, Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) that manage the flow of air traffic at higher altitudes over a specific region, and control towers. of air traffic at airports. In comparison, the previous Saturday, October 18, 12 shortage triggers were recorded. The two previous Saturdays, October 11 and 4, had 6 and 11 triggers recorded, respectively.
Is it safe to fly?
Ironically, delays in the system can be interpreted as a sign that air traffic is staying safe. When the FAA has a shortage of controllers, it manages the flow of air traffic using tools such as ground delays, where the number of flights in and out of an airport is reduced to a manageable level, and ground stops, where arrivals and departures are temporarily stopped. “If I don’t feel like I have enough drivers or drivers focused enough, we slow down traffic. We stop traffic. And that’s why you see the delays in the system,” Duffy said in his interview with Fox.
What other factors are affecting air traffic controllers?
Several controllers—who work 60-hour weeks and have four days off a month, on average—told Forbes that it has been more challenging to manage the fatigue and stress of missing their first full paycheck on Tuesday, and that they are spending their days off working second jobs. One expressed concern “about the level of fatigue” he and his colleagues are experiencing, and another characterized his stress as “almost at breaking point.” Duffy told Fox viewers that air traffic controllers “are taking second jobs. They’re looking. Can I drive for Uber? Can I find another source of income to make ends meet?”
How is the shutdown affecting the air traffic controller shortage?
This could slow the “hiring acceleration” that Duffy promised in February. The FAA is still “about 2,000 controllers short,” Duffy told Fox News, noting that air traffic controller instructors at the FAA academy in Oklahoma City are not being paid during the shutdown, and the stipends students receive while they are being trained will run out in just over a week. “We could lose this group of air traffic controllers,” Duffy said. “So instead of moving in the right direction, trying to bring more controllers into the system, I’m going to lose them. This has long-term implications for our ability to make sure that we don’t have staff shortages and that our flights are on time and not delayed, which I think frustrates so many Americans.”
Big number
70%. That’s the share of Americans who say they’re worried about travel disruptions that could affect their vacation plans this year, according to a survey by Hopper held from October 3 to 6.
This article was originally published in Forbes US
Follow information about the world in our international section
