Staffing shortages mire air travel as shutdown stretches on

"The government has been shut down for a month and is just a few days off from becoming the longest in U.S. history. Driving the news: A ground stop was in place at Nashville International Airport Sunday afternoon with a medium probability of being extended, according to an FAA advisory. Zoom out: Ground delay programs were in place for multiple U.S. airports due to staffing issues as of early Sunday afternoon."

"State of play: As of the early afternoon, Sunday has seen 2,244 delays within, into or out of the U.S. and 216 cancellations, according to tracker FlightAware. On Friday, there were over 6,200 delays and 493 cancellations. That same day, the air traffic controllers' union president called for Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution to end the shutdown. "If the government doesn't open in the next week or two, we'll look back as these were the good days, not the bad days," Duffy said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday."

"Arrivals at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport are being limited to as few as 20 planes per hour, per the FAA and New York City Emergency Management. The average delay for arriving flights was over 3 and a half hours. The traffic management program at Newark will run into early Monday morning, per the FAA's most recent advisory."

A monthlong government shutdown is producing significant air-traffic staffing shortfalls and operational impacts across U.S. airports. The FAA issued a ground stop at Nashville and multiple airports implemented ground delay programs due to staffing issues. Newark arrivals were capped at as few as 20 planes per hour with average arrival delays exceeding three and a half hours, and its traffic management program is scheduled to run into early Monday. Austin and San Francisco also reported inbound delays averaging roughly 38 minutes and about one hour, respectively. FlightAware recorded thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations, and air-traffic stakeholders urged Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government.

Read at Axios