Washington —
There will not be enough air traffic controllers in the tower at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Tuesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration is warning. In Nashville, so many controllers have stayed home the facility, which guides planes into and out of the airport, is closing.
Now on the seventh day of the government shutdown, the same scenario is playing out at FAA offices across the country, with ripple effects hitting flights almost everywhere.
The approach and departure facilities for Houston, Newark and Las Vegas all do not have enough controllers working for at least part of Tuesday evening, along with the facilities that handle planes in the Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Dallas areas, FAA operations plans noted.
Houston’s two major airports, Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental Airport, are both expected to see ground delays because of the staffing shortage.
The aviation problems, just one week into the shutdown, come as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says more controllers are calling out sick. Like Transportation Security Administration officers, air traffic controllers are considered essential employees and must work despite the government’s lapse in funding.
Organized job actions like strikes or sickouts are prohibited by federal law, bu
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