BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) — Air traffic controllers were slated to return to work and full staffing of the control tower at Hollywood Burbank Airport Tuesday after travelers encountered delays Monday amid a staffing shortage linked to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Flight operations were scheduled to return to normal with flights starting at 7:00 a.m., according to the operations employee on duty.
From 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday, there were no air traffic controllers in the Burbank tower, and operations were instead run remotely by Southern California TRACON, an approach and departure team out of San Diego. Southern California TRACON already remotely handles a lot of the air traffic across the region.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website, several measures were put in place, including ground delays at airports in other cities. The agency said departures to Burbank Airport were delayed an average of 151 minutes.
Normally, you wouldn’t see much activity at Burbank Airport at night due to a voluntary curfew starting at 10 p.m. But at 11 p.m. on Monday, planes were still taking off at the airport due to delays and cancellations.
“You’d like to have somebody local that can see what’s going on, visually, right?” said Kimberly Riddle from Tracy, California.
“It’s a little scary, right? I’m about to run it myself,” said influencer Salice Rose.
Air traffic controllers are government employees and are considered essential, so they have to keep working, but are doing so without pay. Because of that, there’s a shortage as many of the 11,00 air traffic controllers nationwide are calling in sick.
“We are tracking sick calls, sick leave. Have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes. And then you’ll see delays that come from that, right? Because again, our priority, again, I want to see your flight not be delayed. I don’t want you canceled, but our priorities are safety. So if we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said earlier Monday.
There were numerous delays and cancellations at Burbank Airport on Monday due to the staffing issues.
Eyewitness News spoke to travelers dealing with two-hour and three-hour delays.
According to an FAA advisory, there were multiple staffing triggers in place on Monday, including delays at airports in Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis and Phoenix.
“See, if mine gets deleted one more time, I might just head back home. I can’t. I’m not going to sit here and wait. I’m not. I’m not doing it,” Rose said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom placed the blame squarely on President Donald Trump, responding to an Eyewitness News tweet with, “Thanks, @realDonaldTrump! Burbank Airport has ZERO air traffic controllers from 4:15pm to 10pm today because of YOUR government shutdown.”
Blame is a tricky thing in a situation like this. The reality is, it’s the Democrats who are voting no to reopening the government as they try to reverse cuts to health care made by Republicans. On Monday, Trump said he is negotiating.
“We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things, and I’m talking about good things with regard to health care,” Trump said.
But Democrats say that’s not true.
Delays with air travel were anticipated due to the government shutdown, which entered its seventh day on Tuesday.
As more time passes for the air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees since their last paycheck, travelers could start to see longer lines at security and flight interruptions, said Jeffrey Price, professor of aviation at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.
“The system does become a little bit more brittle, and the longer this goes, the more the traveler is going to notice it,” Price said.
That’s what happened in 2018 and 2019, when Trump led the country into its longest shutdown ever for 35 days during his first term.
About three weeks into that shutdown, some unpaid security screeners started calling in sick, and air traffic controllers sued the government in a bid to get their paychecks. Miami International Airport had to temporarily close one of its terminals because TSA officers were calling in sick at twice the airport’s usual rate.
The latest shutdown is unfolding at a time when both the TSA and the Federal Aviation Administration are already facing staffing shortages, including a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers.
If the system can’t handle the number of flights that are scheduled, the FAA will slow down landings and take offs and passengers will see more delays and cancellations.
Air traffic controllers will receive one more paycheck, which is essentially half of a paycheck since the shutdown began in the middle of a pay period. They will get the pay for what they worked before the shutdown next Tuesday. They will eventually be paid again once the shutdown ends.
The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.