"Thanks to the government shutdown this month, flight delays are even more prominent. In fact, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Wednesday that delays are 10 times more likely now due to air traffic controller staffing shortages. "Historically, there's about 5% of delays attributed to staffing issues in our towers," Duffy said Wednesday on Fox News' The Will Cain Show. "The last couple of days, it's been 53%.""
"There are about 13,000 air traffic controllers nationwide, but thousands have failed to show up for work. While the controllers' union and federal officials haven't released an exact public figure for total no-shows, its evident towers are understaffed in the number of flight delays. About 10,000 flights were delayed Monday and Tuesday, and roughly 3,200 were delayed Wednesday, CNBC reported."
Flight delays have increased sharply due to air traffic controller staffing shortages caused by the government shutdown that began Oct. 1. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said delays are now ten times more likely, noting staffing-related delays rose from about 5% historically to roughly 53% in recent days. Thousands of air traffic controllers have worked without pay, and many have called in sick or failed to show, leaving towers understaffed. About 10,000 flights were delayed Monday and Tuesday, and roughly 3,200 were delayed Wednesday. As of May, only two of 313 U.S. airports met Federal Aviation staffing targets, compounding operational strain.
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