NO FLY ZONE

Some Flights Held Up at LaGuardia Due to Staff Shortages From Shutdown

Due to a lack of air traffic control staff.

The Federal Aviation Administration has held up some flights at New York’s LaGuardia Airport due to a shortage of air traffic control staff, according to the FAA website, which says a “Ground Stoppage” is in place. The site also lists delays citing “staffing.” Unlike TSA workers—who in recent weeks have called out sick en masse to protest the government shutdown—air traffic control staff had previously said that they would not intentionally call in sick to ensure flight safety. “We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two facilities. We’ve mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft when needed,” an FAA spokesperson told The Daily Beast. “The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system. The public can monitor air traffic at fly.faa.gov and they should check with airline carriers for more information.”