The closure highlights an ongoing problem: too few air traffic controllers
The Federal Aviation Administration faces a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers, according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”. Ministry of Transportation. Many controllers work six days a week, and the skeleton staff means that even small interruptions can cause flight delays and cancellations, experts say.
That’s what happened on Monday, when Hollywood Burbank Airport in California closed its tower for several hours because it didn’t have air traffic controllers, even though the airport remained open. While Monday also saw staff shortages at other airports, as well as a series of flight cancellations, disruptions were much less in subsequent days.
“It only takes one or two sick calls to set up something like this in a severely understaffed facility,” says Mick Devine, executive vice president of the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers, a union that represents many air traffic controllers. “The problems that we’ve been… warning everyone about for years, people are now watching what it really means.”
Why did we write this?
Delays resurfaced at multiple airports this week due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. The current shutdown may have a greater impact on the FAA’s attempt to hire enough workers to fully operate the nation’s airports.
Starting Friday, air traffic controllers will work without pay. The interest in airline travel due to the government shutdown highlights the vulnerabilities of having regular employees. As the FAA tries to fill this gap, it faces a potential hurdle: The shutdown could hamper recruitment and training efforts.
Will the lockdown affect flights?
During the closure period, all operational air traffic controllers are considered essential workers and are required to report to work. Some support staff, such as finance officers and IT specialists, are furloughed.
Transport Minister Sean Duffy told a news conference on Monday that there had been a slight increase in the number of observers calling in sick since the lockdown began. He said that Americans may experience more delays during the closure period, adding that air traffic controllers may face additional pressure.
“Now what [controllers] “I’m thinking about them controlling our airspace… Should I get a second job and drive an Uber when I’m already exhausted from doing an already stressful job thinking about how I can make extra money because the government may not give me a salary?” said Secretary Duffy.
The National Association of Air Traffic Controllers has a new one pop up On its website it urges members not to engage in any coordinated efforts that would disrupt air travel.
On Monday, with Burbank Tower closed for hours and other airports experiencing staff shortages, more than… 6000 Flights were delayed.
Mr Devine does not believe the delay is due to “sick conditions”. He says tower closures like the one at Burbank Airport have occurred more than 100 times this year at various locations — the result of a strained system already operating at limited capacity.
“It was not affected by the lockdown, it was not caused by the lockdown, it was just highlighted by the lockdown,” he says.
Air traffic controllers will receive partial pay on October 14, but will not receive money on subsequent pay days if the shutdown continues. A new draft of a White House memo says federal workers are not guaranteed back pay for their forced leave (or unpaid work) during the shutdown, despite a 2019 law designed to ensure back pay is available. Historically, federal workers have always received compensation when a government shutdown ends.
What are the long-standing problems with shortages?
CBS News analysis FAA data in January found that more than 90% of air traffic control towers were understaffed compared to the agency’s target, and more than 40% of them did not meet the agency’s minimum standards.
The federal government has been trying to fill this gap for several years. In 2024, under the Biden administration, the FAA exited 1,811 New recruits, the largest number in nearly a decade. On September 23, Mr. Duffy Announce The Department of Transportation surpassed that number with 2,026 new superintendents, exceeding its FY 2025 hiring goals.
The FAA has said so expected to hire 8,900 air traffic controllers by late 2028. But it also plans to lose 6,872 workers to retirement and other reasons, leaving it short of the 3,000 air traffic controllers needed to fully operate airports across the country.
The pandemic and other government shutdowns are creating staffing shortages, says Michael McCormick, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a certified control tower operator.
He says that the Corona virus has disrupted the training and employment process, and led to a wave of early retirements in an unstable work environment.
The closure of government institutions has a similar effect. Typically, the FAA has frozen the hiring and training of air traffic controllers during shutdowns. All consoles are passed through an academy in Oklahoma City. The academy can only graduate a certain number of people each year, and it often takes several more years before trainees become certified. So, if a lockdown causes a group of recruits to miss training, the effects could be felt years into the future.
“The downtime in 2018-19 is one of the main reasons we are in the scenario we are in today,” says Mr. Devine, referring to the interruptions in training.
During the current closure period, the training center is operating with 30-day emergency funding.
But if that funding runs out, Mr. Devine warns, “you’re probably looking at worse employment in 3 or 4 years than we have today.”
How did travel delays affect the latest lockdown?
On January 25, 2019, a small number of air traffic controllers alerting sick people caused delays at airports in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. On the same day, President Donald Trump ended the 35-day federal shutdown, the longest in US history. Both Democrats and Republicans have raised concerns that the closures are putting too much pressure on airports.
Now, each side links the latest delay to the closure, and each side blames the other.
“Thank you @realDonaldTrump! Burbank Airport does not have any air traffic controllers from 4:15pm to 10pm today due to your government shutdown,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X on Monday.
“The reason we are closing is because your party cannot arrange its priorities.” He responded Secretary Duffy.
Dr McCormick hopes the closure will help shine a spotlight on the real people in the aviation industry who are affected.
“[Our air traffic controllers] They work hard, they’re dedicated, they’re professionals. “But at the end of the day, they are human beings,” he adds. “And when policymakers have the opportunity to see them for who they are — people — and the impact that has on them, I think that’s the impetus for working together and reopening government.”