The flight delays begin as the shortages of air traffic staff aggravate

Flights to airports serving New York, Denver and the Los Angeles region were delayed on Monday evening due to the shortages of air traffic controllers, a few hours after the transport secretary warned that the flight could be disrupted by the government’s closure.

Delays started at the end of the afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, where incoming flights were delayed almost an average of an hour, and at Denver International Airport, where the arriving flights were delayed by around 40 minutes.

Later in the evening, Hollywood Burbank airport near Los Angeles reported average average delays of about two and a half hours, according to a notice of the Federal Aviation Administration. The air traffic control tower that serves Burbank did not have controllers working on Monday evening, so that the management of incoming flights was assumed by counterparts of the terminal radar in southern California in San Diego, one of the most frequented air traffic installations in the world.

Kurt Duffens, 69, learned only the news while waiting for his ride after having stolen from Portland. He realized that the tower was unmanned while his flight was in the air. “I would not have stolen,” said Duffens. “I would actually have gone to Lax if I knew.”

The delays, caused by staff shortages, according to FAA’s advice, intervened shortly after the Secretary of Transport, Sean Duffy, warned that air service could be disrupted by the government’s closure.

“If we think there are problems in airspace, we will close it,” he said. “We will close it. We will delay. “

Air traffic controllers are required to work through the closure, but will only be paid from the end to the end.

During the closure of the 2019 government, controllers in important facilities began to call the patients at high prices, contributing to generalized flight delays and a quick end to this closure. DUFFY said on Monday, said the officials had seen a “slight ICT-UP” in the sick calls for the controllers since the current closure last week.

The Federal Aviation Administration has slowed traffic in the three airports on Monday using a “floor delay program”, a traffic management tool in which the agency has been in flights since the departure of other airports if they are heading to one with a limited capacity.

The FAA has issued many ground delays for Newark for staff shortages and track construction this year and also expresses ground delays when airports are dealing with bad weather and other factors. Flights to Logan International Boston International Airport were also delayed for a large part of Monday due to track construction.

Duffy also said on Monday that a federal program that subsidizes thefts to rural areas would not lack funding on Sunday unless the closure is finished, threatening a service.

Orlando Mayorquín Contributed by Burbank, California.