Air traffic control facilities reported staffing problems that required action to keep planes flying safely 25 times today, the day before the Federal Aviation Administration mandates that airlines start cutting flights to some of the nation’s busiest airports.
The staffing issues caused delays averaging more than 30 minutes at Dallas-Fort Worth, more than an hour at Chicago’s O’Hare, more than 2 hours at Ronald Reagan Washington National, and more than three hours at Newark International Airport.
Air traffic control towers were short-staffed at Chicago’s Midway and O’Hare International, Dallas-Fort Worth International, Nashville International, Reagan National, and San Francisco International Airport.
TRACONS, which handle flights approaching or departing airports, did not have the normal complement of controllers at Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, and Newark.
Centers, which control flights at high altitude, were short-staffed in Atlanta, Cleaveland, Kansas City, Indianapolis, New York, and Washington, DC.
Several facilities had multiple staffing shortages in divergent areas or at different times during the day.
Since the start of the shutdown there have been 450 staffing problems reported, more than four times the number seen on the same days last year.
