Washington (CNN) — A pilot preparing to take off Monday from Hollywood Burbank Airport in California took the routine step of radioing the air traffic control tower.
But instead of the usual back-and-forth conversation of coordinating departure, the pilot received a different response: “The tower is closed due to staffing,” according to audio recorded by LiveATC.net.
The exchange is one example of the impact the ongoing government shutdown is having on travelers across the U.S. as air traffic controller staffing issues have led to delays at major airports and forced pilots in some areas to pivot to alternative workflows.
Controllers are considered essential workers, so they must work during the shutdown, but are not being paid.
Twelve Federal Aviation Administration facilities saw staffing shortages Monday night. The control towers in Burbank, Phoenix and Denver had so called “staffing triggers” reported in the public FAA operations plan. Other facilities that handle air traffic around airports in Newark, New Jersey; Jacksonville, Florida; Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis also were short staffed.
Perhaps the most dramatic impact was at the Burbank airport where the control tower was entirely shut down around 4:15 p.m. Monday afternoon. Flights could take off and land but had to follow procedures typically used at small airports without control towers. Delays of more than two and a half hours were reported at one point.
Denver International and Newark Liberty International airports saw ground delays where flights were prohibited from taking off until controllers were able to handle them. Both airports are major hubs for United Airlines; the airline did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The number of controllers calling out sick has increased since the start of the shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a news conference Monday after talking with controllers in the tower at Newark.
“So now what they think about as they’re controlling our airspace, is, ‘How am I going to pay my mortgage? How do I make my car payment?’” he said. “Do I think they’re more stressed right now in our towers? Yes. Is our airspace unsafe? No.”
During this shutdown, Duffy said, the government will do what is necessary to keep the airspace safe.
“If we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” he said, foreshadowing the delays seen later in the day.
The 35-day government shutdown that stretched from December 2018 to January 2019 ended after 10 air traffic controllers stayed home, snarling air traffic. The delays, coupled with TSA agents calling out sick causing backups at security checkpoints, led to the end of that shutdown.
Organized job actions like strikes are prohibited by federal law, but since air traffic control staffing is so tight a small number of employees taking unscheduled time off could be enough to cause major problems.
“If someone has to take sick leave to drive Uber to make the difference, those are decisions they’re going to make themselves,” Duffy said, calling for an end to the shutdown, which he blames on congressional Democrats. “I don’t want them finding a second job to pay them, a job to pay the bills. I want them to get paid for the work they’re doing today, keeping our planes in the air.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union which represents controllers, said the problems highlight a decades long staffing shortage.
“It is normal for a few air traffic controllers to … call in sick on any given day, and this is the latest example of how fragile our aviation system is in the midst of a national shortage of these critical safety professionals,” NATCA said in a statement. “Nearly 11,000 fully certified controllers remain on the job, many working 10-hour shifts as many as six days a week, showing extraordinary dedication to safely guiding millions of passengers to their destinations–all without getting paid during this shutdown.”
At least one control tower closes
In Burbank Monday, the pilot who radioed the control tower before takeoff received a message noting the workers had gone home.
“Clearence is closed, ground is closed, local is closed. The tower is closed due to staffing, please contact SoCal on the 800 (phone) number,” a voice on the tower frequency told a pilot, in audio recorded by LiveATC.net.
Southern California TRACON, an FAA facility in San Diego that handles traffic across the region, took over some operations, but many aspects of air traffic control were left to the pilots.
The tower radio frequency became a “common traffic advisory frequency,” which means pilots coordinate their intentions to any other planes listening and are responsible to listen and stay clear of other aircraft.
“Burbank traffic, this is Southwest 737 (flight) 2998 departing runway 15 at Burbank,” a Southwest Airlines pilot told whoever was listening, according to LiveATC.net. “Any other traffic please advise.”
Two helicopters nearby responded and said they were not in the way of the takeoff.
The procedure is usually used at smaller airports which do not have a control tower or during slow periods where smaller towers are closed, such as overnight.
Small airports to lose government flight subsidies
Adding to the pain for travelers amid the shutdown is an expiration of subsidies for flights to smaller cities.
The Essential Air Service, which provide funding for airlines to fly to small cites that otherwise might not receive air service, will expire Sunday, the Department of Transportation announced Monday.
The Essential Air Service program was created to ensure smaller, rural communities are served by air carriers. The transportation department has “exhausted every resource” to prolong the shortfall, it said in a statement, which includes transferring unrelated funding from the FAA as an advance.
“The number one user of this air space is Alaska,” Duffy told reporters. “You don’t have roads in Alaska. They travel by air, and a lot of these are small communities. Alaska will be impacted, but every state across the country will be impacted by the inability to provide the subsidies to airlines to service these communities.”
Several of the airlines which operate these flights are planning to continue for the immediate future, but if the shutdown drags on they could stop.
“We are working with each community and evaluating our capabilities in the event of a longer-term government shutdown,” Skywest Airlines, which is one of the largest EAS operators, said in a statement. “It is our intent to honor our service commitments, including those under the Federal EAS program.”
Alaska Airlines operates flights to six cities under the program.
“Support from the Essential Air Service program is necessary to maintain this vital community service,” the airline said in a statement. “Despite this potential uncertainty, Alaska Airlines currently plans to continue operating reliable flights as scheduled while the federal government works to resolve the shutdown.”
Undermining a safety critical mission
When the federal government shuts down, it “undermines” the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to effectively perform its “safety-critical” mission, a 2023 report from an independent panel of aviation safety experts found.
The National Airspace System Safety Review Team was commissioned by the FAA to identify risks in the National Airspace System. Its report details past shutdowns and the direct impacts on aviation.
“This stop-and-start process in Congress has resulted in the disruption of critical activities, notably including the hiring and training of air traffic controllers,” the report read. “It has also slowed down the implementation of key technology modernization programs, delayed thousands of flights, and held up billions of dollars of airport infrastructure investments. This situation makes it extremely difficult for the FAA to effectively conduct long-term business planning and execution.”
“A 24/7, 365 days/year safety-critical operation, which supports 5.2 percent of national Gross Domestic Product, should never experience a lapse in appropriations or authorization,” the report noted.
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