A brief halt to flights into New York’s LaGuardia Airport escalated the pressure on President Donald Trump and lawmakers as they moved closer to temporarily reopening the government after a record shutdown.
A lack of workers at a key East Coast air-traffic control facility forced the Federal Aviation Administration to block inbound service to LaGuardia, delaying hundreds of flights Friday. The ground stop at one of the nation’s busiest transportation hubs was lifted at 10:37 a.m. after an hour and 22 minutes.
While the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t directly blame the shutdown, the airport disruptions stoked the political standoff by suggesting signs of growing strain as the government shutdown extended into a 35th day. Union leaders and U.S. airline bosses warned of heightened risk this week, with JetBlue Airways Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes saying the aviation system was reaching a “tipping point.”
The White House said the president was monitoring airport delays. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter that the shutdown is “pushing our airspace to the breaking point.’’ She called on Trump to agree to reopen the government and “stop endangering the safety, security and well-being of our nation.’’
Trump plans to address the shutdown in a press conference this afternoon amid reports he has struck a deal to temporarily reopen the government.
‘Sick Leave’
The FAA attributed the delays to “a slight increase in sick leave” and said that the effects on the aviation system were moderate. By about noon, the FAA had been able to supplement staff at the Washington-area air-traffic center that caused the brief halt and traffic was flowing normally.
“We’ve mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft as needed,” the FAA said in an emailed statement. “The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a labor union representing about 14,000 members, emphasized that it wasn’t urging controllers to participate in any job action.
“Air traffic controllers take their responsibility to protect the safety of the flying public at all costs very seriously,” NATCA President Paul Rinaldi said in a statement. “Nothing else matters except safety. With that said, in the past few weeks, we have warned about what could happen as a result of the prolonged shutdown. Many controllers have reached the breaking point of exhaustion, stress, and worry.”