Airports face delays as shutdown deepens air traffic control staffing woes

Amna Nawaz:

Thousands of flights have been delayed across the country this week, as the government shutdown enters its eighth day. In fact, more than 2,500 flights were delayed just today.

In an interview with FOX News, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said controllers calling out sick were a significant reason for the huge spike in delays.

Sean Duffy, U.S. Transportation Secretary:

Historically, there's about 5 percent of delays that is attributed to staffing issues in our towers. In the last couple of days, it's been 53 percent. And so my message to the air traffic controllers who work for DOT is show up for work.

The bottom line is, these controllers are stressed out. And they're rebelling on this shutdown because they may not get paid. They're working six days a week. They're keeping America operational and they're not guaranteed a paycheck, and they're frustrated by it.

Amna Nawaz:

Air traffic controllers have reportedly called out sick in large numbers in Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, and Newark. Earlier this week, Burbank Airport didn't have any controllers in its primary tower.

Air traffic controllers, as essential workers, are required to work during a shutdown, but are now doing so without pay.

Joining me now to break this all down is our aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien.

So, Miles, help us understand this ripple effect we're seeing now from government shutdown through to the thousands of flight delays we're seeing.

Miles O’Brien:

Amna, I think we're seeing so many ripples because the pond is a little bit shallow.

The FAA is short 3,000 certified controllers. And so it doesn't take a lot of sick individuals to have a consequence on the scheduling. The union which represents the air traffic controllers says there's no purposeful campaign here to (AUDIO GAP) these are individuals that have been working under great stress as the system has been short-staffed for so long.

We have been documenting all kinds of issues associated with this that the FAA has not addressed. And I'm certain that the stress levels on these controllers is increased. So there might be just some natural need for them to take a little bit of time off. And I doubt that anybody who flies the airlines would begrudge a controller time off if he felt too stressed out to work.

Amna Nawaz:

Miles, that report from Burbank Airport really got a lot of attention. They went without air traffic controllers for hours late on Monday night.

How did that not end up in disaster? And what happens in the system when there's a situation like that?

Miles O’Brien:

Well, there's a couple of layers of safety involved here.

First of all, the radar rooms, which control the access as you get closer to the airports, those radar rooms can be switched out remotely, assuming there's appropriate amount of bandwidth. In other words, you don't have to be sitting at that (AUDIO GAP) Burbank Airport.

Now, when you get to the field, though, you need an individual in the control tower to decide who's going to land, who's going to take off, and so forth. But pilots have a routine and a set of rules for approaching uncontrolled airports. It happens frequently all day long at thousands of uncontrolled fields all across the country.

We all get on a specific frequency, the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency, and we tell each other where we are, and the system works relatively safely. But as you can see, at a larger airport, it wouldn't be so efficient, and it obviously would slow things down.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Miles, is this something we should anticipate seeing more of, airports relying on other facilities, air traffic controllers working remotely, and what are the concerns or potential risks of that?

Miles O’Brien:

Yes, there will be more of that.

We want to keep individuals in the towers. There's no remote control tower capability. You can move work from one radar room to another to try to compensate for staffing issues, et cetera. But, eventually, this slows down the system dramatically. Things become less efficient. The number of radio calls slow down.

What — you end up with a system that starts slowing to a crawl.

Amna Nawaz:

Let me ask you a funding question here now, because funding is at the heart of this.

The body that provides federal funding for air travel in rural areas, the EAS, or the Essential Air Service, that runs out of money on Sunday if the government shutdown continues. And that funds regional air carriers in some 177 communities across all 50 states.

Miles, if the shutdown continues through Sunday, what's going to be the impact of that funding running out?

Miles O’Brien:

Well, 177 small communities, these are places that are about 90 minutes away from another airport. And so they — there is a subsidy which encourages, which allows the airlines to fly to them and provide service.

There are 60 of these communities in Alaska alone, 177 total. And what that means is, unless the airlines want to pull some money out of their pockets and fund it, which is unlikely, that service will end. And that means, obviously, a threat to business and tourism. But, most importantly, think about those 60 communities in Alaska were perhaps the only way to get medicine and people to medical care and hospitals is by air.

So this has really important and potentially grave consequences.

Amna Nawaz:

Miles, in the minute or so we have left, speak directly to the air travelers out there, myself among them. What should we be anticipating and preparing for in the days ahead?

Miles O’Brien:

All right.

Well, the big takeaway here I want people to understand is, the system is dialing back its capacity, but that does not mean it is dialing back safety. So from an airline traveler's perspective, you don't need to worry about safety, but you do have to show up a lot earlier.

And a word to the wise. If all things are equal, book an early morning flight. They tend to be the flights which don't delay as much, and it is a more likely chance that you're going to fly on time. I don't want people to be worried necessarily. These controllers, as they — as the work force is stressed and shrinked, so will the air traffic. And, as a result, the safety should not be impacted.

Amna Nawaz:

That's our aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien, with some great tips and great information tonight, as always.

Miles, thank you. Good to speak with you.

Miles O’Brien:

You're welcome, Amna.