Hollywood Burbank Airport in Southern California had no air traffic controllers for more than five hours on Monday evening due to the ongoing government shutdown.
From 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m., the airport’s control tower went completely unmanned, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Planes relied on a team working near San Diego to coordinate departures and arrivals.
Nearly 25% of arriving and departing flights at the airport were delayed Monday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
Air traffic controllers are considered essential employees, so they’re required to work during the government shutdown. However, they’re not paid for their hours.
“So now what they think about as they’re controlling our airspace, is, ‘How am I going to pay my mortgage? How do I make my car payment?” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday at a press conference. “If someone has to take sick leave to drive Uber to make the difference, those are decisions they’re going to make themselves.”
Control towers in Phoenix and Denver, two of the nation’s busiest airports, also reported significant staffing shortages Monday.
By Tuesday morning, normal operations had resumed at Burbank Airport, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Air travel pressures have ended a government shutdown in the past. In January 2019, a 35-day shutdown came to an end when the FAA had to limit flights into several major airports because too many air traffic controllers took sick leave.
