It’s shaping up to be one of the roughest travel weeks of the year. A deepening government shutdown, unpaid air traffic controllers, and the arrival of Hurricane Melissa have combined to snarl flights nationwide, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
A nearly two-hour ground stop at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, Oct. 26, was followed by new FAA alerts forecasting disruptions at Boston Logan, Denver, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, Newark Liberty, Orlando, and Tampa International Airports. The agency cited staffing shortages and weather as key causes.
Newark, the nation’s eighth busiest airport, remains one of the worst hit. The FAA issued a ground delay program at 3:32 p.m. Wednesday, halting departures until at least 10:59 p.m. Delays averaged 40 minutes, with some extending beyond 87 minutes.
Shutdown Enters Day 29 As Controllers Miss Full Paychecks
The shutdown, now nearing a month, has left 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers working without pay. Wednesday marked the first time they missed a full paycheck, with pay stubs showing $0.00, according to federal payroll data…