Live updates: Shutdown causes delays at airports | CNN

Shutdown causes delays at airports

Meg Wagner Dakin Andone Amanda Wills
By Meg Wagner, Dakin Andone and Amanda Wills, CNN
Updated 3:11 PM EST, Fri January 25, 2019
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FAA orders ground stop at LaGuardia amid massive delays
2:12 • Source: CNN
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What we covered here

  • Delays in the Northeast: Air traffic was delayed at New York City’s LaGuardia, Philadelphia and New Jersey’s Newark airports due to staffing issues during the shutdown.
  • Deal to end shutdown reached: Following the delays, President Trump announced a plan to reopen the government. Sources say the delays played a key role in his decision to back down.
  • Month-long shutdown: Today marked the 35th day of the government shutdown, with hundreds of thousands of federal employees missing their second paycheck.

Updates

(21)

Shutdown's impact on flights was "contributing catalyst" to reaching a deal, source says

Froim CNN's Rene Marsh

President Trump just announced a plan to reopen the government for three weeks, funding it until Feb. 15.

The White House had been meeting and communicating with transportation agencies to discuss what impact the shutdown was having on commercial aviation, according to a source familiar.   

The White House recently was given a stark portrayal for what would happen as it relates to commercial aviation if this shutdown continued, the source said.

Then the White house saw it play out in real time Friday, with air traffic control staffing issues causing massive delays in one of the busiest airspaces, New York City. 

The source adds that today’s staffing issues with air traffic controllers and shortage of TSA officers was a “contributing catalyst to ending this shutdown for both sides” of the negotiations.

The airport delays played a key role in Trump backing down on shutdown, source says

A White House official tells CNN today’s airport delays played an important role in President Trump’s decision to back down on his insistence for border wall funding – even if it’s just temporary.

Trump is expected to make an announcement about the shutdown at any moment in the Rose Garden. A senior White House official told CNN the President would announce a “way forward” on ending the shutdown.

The flight attendants union called out lawmakers for the shutdown

The flight attendants’ union stood up for air traffic controllers in a statement Friday and demanded an end to the shutdown.

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson said the AFA and other aviation unions saw these delays and staffing shortages coming.

Nelson said safety professionals “have been doing unbelievably heroic work even as they are betrayed by the government that employs them.”

She continued:

American Airlines says it hasn't "experienced significant impacts"

From CNN's Rene Marsh
An American Airlines plane passes the Navy - Merchant Marine Memorial
An American Airlines plane passes the Navy - Merchant Marine Memorial
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Like other major airlines, American addressed the airport delays in a statement it released Friday afternoon.

Here it is:

Philadelphia airport operations are returning to normal

Things are getting back to normal at the Philadelphia International Airport, according to its Twitter page. Most flights are back on schedule.

Earlier, the airport had said departures were delayed 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Here’s the airport’s latest tweet:

Staffing issues have been fixed, but residual delays continue, FAA says

From CNN's Rene Marsh and Greg Wallace

The air traffic control staffing issues that led to a ground stop at New York’s LaGuardia and flight delays at other airports has been resolved, according to an Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.  

The current delays, the spokesman said, are residual.  

Here’s the latest delay info from the FAA status website:  

  • Flights arriving into LaGuardia and Newark continue to be delayed by 1 hour and 26 minutes.  
  • Departures from Atlanta are delayed by between an hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes.

This is Delta's response to the airport delays

Staffing shortages at a crucial air traffic control center continue to cause delays at major airports.

Here’s a statement from Delta:

New York governor: "Look at the level of madness"

From CNN's Laura Ly

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the airport delays at an unrelated event Friday morning, blasting President Trump for shutting down the government over his insistence that Congress fund a border wall.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also weighed in: He placed the blame squarely on Trump’s shoulders, tweeting, “This is horrendous.”

Here’s that tweet:

Union president: Air traffic controllers are exhausted from "working around the clock"

From CNN's Ellie Kaufman

Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, explained in a press conference Thursday that many air traffic controllers are turning to side gigs to pay their bills on top of their regular job. And they’re exhausted.

At the maximum, air traffic controllers only allowed to work 10-hour shifts for 6 days, Rinaldi said. Many have met that ceiling.

How US airlines are responding to the delays
A United Airlines plane passes the Washington Monument.
A United Airlines plane passes the Washington Monument.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

There’s a slew of flight delays at major airports today in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia due to staffing shortages at a critical air traffic control center. 

So far, at least two airlines have issued statements on the delays.

United Airlines:

 Southwest Airlines:

The ground stop could have a nationwide ripple effect

From CNN's Ray Sanchez

A ground stop was ordered at LaGuardia Airport this morning to clear congestion, an FAA spokesman said.

That could have a ripple effect: Ground stops, particularly long ones, can have nationwide impacts, forcing delays at airports that feed into the destination airports.

The Northeast region is one of the most airtrafficked airspaces in the world. About 20% of all airline passengers in the country travel out of these airports, according to the FAA.

He's been sitting on a plane for hours, waiting for takeoff

From CNN's Gianluca Mezzofiore

Doug Behm has been sitting on a Jet Blue flight bound for Cartagena, Colombia, for hours. He shared a photo of passengers standing restlessly in the plane’s center aisle.

“Was supposed to leave at 7.51 AM,” Behm tweeted. “Taxied for a while, then back to the gate to refuel. Delayed due to staffing issues caused by the Government shutdown.”

Nearly three hours after his flight was supposed to take off, Behm told CNN the plane was still stuck at the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport.

“Haven’t gotten an update in a while,” he said.

Here’s the scene inside the plane:

This expert is concerned some air traffic controllers are "not fit for duty"

Asked by CNN’s Jim Sciutto whether the airport delays are a direct result of the government shutdown, Trish Gilbert, Executive Vice President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said, “Absolutely.”

While Gilbert doesn’t know the details of every absence, she said there are concerns that stress and a lack of sleep could mean some air traffic controllers aren’t able to do their jobs.

“We are already short-staffed,” she said. “So now you’ve added the stress to air traffic controllers and their personal circumstances. And they’re not sleeping at night. Now we’re concerned that they’re not fit for duty.”

President Trump has been briefed on the airport delays

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in statement that President Trump has been briefed on the airport delays.

Political officials think air travel issues could be the key to ending the shutdown

From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Kaitlan Collins and Jeremy Diamond

It’s too early to say whether widespread flight delays at major East Coast airports will break the shutdown stalemate. But the prospect of a national air travel meltdown has long loomed in the minds of White House and congressional officials as the one thing that might bring an end to the stalemate.

Administration officials have said as recently as this week that if the shutdown began to devastate air travel, they feared Republicans would jump ship and get on board with a short-term Democratic plan to reopen the government.

And it’s not just inside the White House. Outside political advisers to President Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill have worried major flight issues would amplify the blame Trump is already facing for the shutdown. They, too, believe that major disruptions to air travel would ramp up pressure to reopen the government without wall funding

As the shutdown has worn on, Trump has been focused on two particular areas where Americans might be affected, according to people familiar with this thinking: Air travel and tax returns.

He has asked aides whether Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration workers are breaking laws by calling out sick, likening it to the air traffic controllers strike during the Reagan administration.

Ground stop at LaGuardia is expected for another hour

From CNN's Rene Marsh

There is a ground stop at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport right now. The ground stop will go on for about another hour, according to an FAA spokesman.  

The ground stop was ordered as a way to clear congestion caused by the staffing issues and the resulting slowdown of traffic.  

Philadelphia airport experiencing delays of more than an hour

Philadelphia International Airport tweeted that the FAA is reporting departure delays of 1 hour and 14 minutes.

She's sitting on a plane in Atlanta, waiting to take off for New York City

From CNN's Gianluca Mezzofiore

Joy Burney is sitting on Delta flight 2927, from Atlanta to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport.

That flight has been delayed because of staffing issues with air traffic control.

“My flight was supposed to take off at 9:30,” she told CNN. “(Our) departure time was updated 3 times. Originally, we were told there was a delay at LaGuardia. They thought maybe they were de-icing planes since planes were grounded.”

FAA: We're experiencing "a slight increase in sick leave"

From CNN's Rene Marsh

The Federal Aviation Administration just sent out a statement on the flight delays happening in the Northeast right now:

It added that travelers can monitor air traffic here, and check with airline carriers.

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