Pulse logo
Pulse Region

Airport Delays Ripple Across Northeast Due to Air Traffic Controller Shortage

Significant flight delays were rippling across the Northeast on Friday because of a shortage of air traffic controllers as a result of the government shutdown, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The agency said it was slowing traffic in and out of airports because of staffing problems at facilities in Washington and Jacksonville, Florida.

On Wednesday, unions representing air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants offered an urgent warning that the lengthy government shutdown had created serious safety concerns for the nation’s air travel system. Like many other federal employees, the controllers have not been working without pay for more than a month.

A spokesman for the FAA confirmed that it was rerouting planes and slowing air traffic to cope with an increase in the number of controllers calling in sick.

The spokesman said the changes were having “minimal impacts to efficiency.”

Recommended For You
Lifestyle
2025-03-18T12:40:12+00:00
Rachel Ruto is no stranger to making bold yet elegant fashion statements, but during the state visit of the Dutch royals on March 18, 2025, it wasn’t just her outfit that stood out—it was her shoes. The Kenyan First Lady stepped out in a pair of brown suede block heels adorned with a gold emblem.
The Sh83K shoes that completed Rachel Ruto’s State Visit look

On Friday morning, the departures screen at one of the terminals at La Guardia Airport in New York began to show ‘Delayed’ across arriving flights.

On Wednesday, unions representing air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants offered an urgent warning that the lengthy government shutdown had created serious safety concerns for the nation’s air travel system.

The partial shutdown, nearing five full weeks, has caused strain across the air travel system. For more than a month, thousands of transportation security officers and air traffic controllers have been working without pay. Many have taken on side jobs driving for ride-hailing apps or in restaurants to try to pay their bills.

Staffing among air traffic controllers, who are responsible for keeping planes from colliding, was already an issue even before the shutdown, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the controllers’ union.

The number of certified controllers is at a 30-year low, the union said, and staffing at the centralized radar facility for the airports that serve New York City, which is known as a Tracon, has only about 130 controllers, far short of its full complement of 228.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Subscribe to receive daily news updates.