By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday delayed flights at airports in Austin, Newark and Nashville as air traffic control staffing issues continue to ground flights and the government shutdown enters its 31st day.
At least nine FAA facilities were facing staffing issues Friday and the agency said it would likely delay flights later at airports in Houston and Dallas.
Flight delays averaged 61 minutes in Nashville, 50 minutes in Austin and 101 minutes in Newark. FlightAware, an aviation tracking site, said 2,200 US flights had been delayed and 300 canceled as of 12:30 p.m. ET.
On Thursday there were 7,300 delays on US flights and 1,250 flights cancelled.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that he expects more flight delays in the coming days.
“Starting this weekend and then next week, I think we’re going to see even more disruption to airspace,” Duffy said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
On Thursday, air traffic control staff shortages grounded flights in Orlando, Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington, DC. The shutdown has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.
Delta Air Lines, United, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines called on Congress to quickly pass an interim funding bill to allow the government to reopen and discussions over health care policy disputes to continue.
The closure caused flight delays due to absences of air traffic controllers and affected thousands of flights, the Department of Transportation said.
Airlines have repeatedly urged an end to the closure, citing risks to aviation safety. The shutdown has exacerbated pre-existing staff shortages, threatening to cause widespread disruptions similar to those that helped end a 35-day government shutdown in 2019.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of projected staffing levels, and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Andrea Ricci)