It's now been more than one week since the federal government shut down, and the impact is now rippling through the skies, with more U.S. air travelers impacted due to staffing shortages at airports.
The FAA reported staffing issues Tuesday at airports in Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia and Nashville, where a shortage of air traffic controllers led to the delay of one-third of its flights and affected nearly 40,000 passengers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged earlier this week that staffing issues were due to an uptick in the number of air traffic controllers calling in sick.
"Have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes," Duffy said. "And then you'll see delays that come from that, right?"
Any staffing shortage puts extra pressure on controllers who are on the job, according to former FAA administrator Randy Babbitt.
"It's a self-accelerating cycle," Babbitt said. "As more people aren't coming to work, the people who are at work have to work more, which exposes them to fatigue."
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As the shutdown drags on, some lawmakers are now calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring back members to at least approve a temporary solution to reduce the impact on air travel.
"Convene us so that we might be able to put forward and pass an emergency supplemental aimed at finding a way to pay air traffic controllers all over this country until this thing is settled," said Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD).
