Air traffic staff shortages snarl thousands of flights

WASHINGTON — Major air traffic control staffing shortages snarled thousands of flights over the weekend as the government shutdown caused mounting travel woes and raised alarm among airline officials.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that air traffic control staffing issues were affecting 42 airport towers and other centers, resulting in flight delays in at least 12 major US cities, including Atlanta, Newark, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Flights crossing six different high-traffic areas were also facing delays.

US airlines canceled more than 2,500 weekend flights by Saturday evening as the FAA mandated cuts in air traffic.

Airline officials privately said that the number of delay programs made it nearly impossible to schedule and plan many flights, expressing alarm about how the system would function if staffing issues worsen.

The FAA instructed airlines to reduce their daily flights by 4 percent starting on Friday at 40 major airports due to air traffic control safety concerns. The shutdown, which began on Oct 1, has led to shortages of air traffic controllers who, like other federal employees, have not been paid for weeks.

Reductions in flights are mandated to rise to 6 percent on Tuesday and then increase to 10 percent by Nov 14.

The air traffic absences prompted the FAA to impose ground delay programs at nine airports on Saturday, with delays averaging 282 minutes for flights at Atlanta, one of the busiest airports in the US.

The cuts, which began on Friday morning, include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

The four airlines canceled about the same number of flights on Saturday, as mandated by the FAA, but were forced to cancel additional flights due to staffing issues at air traffic control.

The traffic woes came as the Senate's first weekend session since the shutdown began yielded few signs of progress on Saturday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune's wish for a quick vote never materialized.

US President Donald Trump said he is unlikely to compromise with Democrats anytime soon on a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Trump suggested on social media that Congress send money directly to people to buy insurance.

Thune said Trump's proposal would not be part of a solution to ending the shutdown, but added "it is a discussion that the president and all of us want to have".

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said he welcomed Republicans to the fight when it came to insurance companies, "but that shouldn't come at the cost of kicking millions off of their healthcare in January".

Taking a toll

The impasse is taking an increasing toll on the country, as federal workers remain unpaid, and SNAP benefits have been delayed for millions of US citizens.

A survey released on Friday shows that US citizens are divided over who is to blame for the longest government shutdown in US history.

A YouGov survey found that 32 percent of respondents blame Democrats for the shutdown, 35 percent blame Republicans, and 28 percent hold both parties equally responsible. Compared with the previous survey conducted in mid-October, the share blaming both sides equally has gone up by 4 percentage points.

About one-third of US citizens said the shutdown is affecting them either a great deal or somewhat, up from 21 percent who said the same a month ago, it added.

Agencies - Xinhua