The Federal Aviation Administration is warning of a staffing shortage at facility that communicates with flights over New England, New York, and northeast Pennsylvania.
An afternoon operations plan reported a “staffing trigger” at the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center in Nashua, New Hampshire, from 6 p.m. through 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Staffing shortages were also reported at several major control centers nationwide, including Nashville, Chicago, Houston, and Las Vegas, on the seventh day of the federal government shutdown.
Air traffic controllers are essential workers who are required to show up for work even without pay.
The Department of Transportation has seen an uptick in air traffic controllers calling out sick since the shutdown began.
The next payday for air traffic controllers is Tuesday, October 14.
Unless the government opens before then, controllers will only be paid for time worked before the shutdown.
NATCA, which represents about 20,000 controllers, engineers, and other aviation professionals, discouraged controllers from calling out to protest the shutdown.
The staffing shortages are increasing the likelihood of flight delays, reroutes, and overnight ground stops, and the impacts are already being felt at some airports nationwide.
Travelers waiting to board delayed flights at Logan Airport Tuesday night questioned if the staffing challenges were to blame.
A Massport spokesperson told Boston 25 News that the federal government shutdown has not impacted operations at Boston Logan Airport and issued the following statement:
“Logan has an ongoing critical safety project on Runway 27, one of the airport’s busiest runways. The project began in early September and is expected to take 75 days. Massport collaborated with the airlines and FAA to determine this was the best time to do this work. During the construction, we expect delays, particularly in the afternoon and evening, of approximately one hour.”
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