Flights to LaGuardia, other airports impacted by shortage of air traffic controllers; Rochester flights being impacted

UPDATE:Trump backs deal to end government shutdown amid pressure from lawmakers, flight delays

Flights at several major airports were delayed Friday because of an increase in air traffic control employees calling in sick as the government shutdown continues.

The FAA briefly halted mid-morning flights bound for LaGuardia airport in New York City, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNBC news.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s flight delay map also showed departure delays of more than an hour at Philadelphia and Newark on at one point Friday morning.

More:FAA: Flights delayed at 3 major airports due to 'staffing' issues amid government shutdown

Officials at the Rochester airport said Friday morning that Delta was the only carrier that flew direct from Rochester to LaGuardia and recommended that passengers contact the airline directly for updated flight information.

The FAA listed “staffing” as the cause of delays and issued a “traffic management” initiative to slow down the rates of departures. Typically, that metering effort helps controllers space out planes to keep the pace of either arrivals or departures from exceeding their capacity.

The FAA confirmed it had initiated procedures to adjust flights because of an increase in sick calls by controllers.

“We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two facilities,” a spokesman for the FAA said in a statement to the USA Today Network. “We’ve mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft when needed. The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system. The public can monitor air traffic at fly.faa.gov and they should check with airline carriers for more information.”

Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since Dec. 22.

By mid-afternoon on Friday, FAA notices of staffing shortages at LaGuardia and Philadelphia had been lifted, though delays for other reasons were noted at LaGuardia and Newark airport.

But several flights inbound from New York City's LaGuardia and JFK International were listed as delayed, as was an arriving flight from Boston. The reasons for those delays were clear.

In a statement, Gov. Andrew Cuomo laid blame for the delays at the feet of President Donald Trump, and called on him to end the government shutdown. Cuomo said he'd sent a letter to Trump earlier Friday expressing concern that shortage of security staff at airports could threaten safety.

Rebecca Kolins Givan, an associate professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, said that union leaders have to walk a fine line because of the restrictive federal labor law, but their rank-and-file members are sometimes able to take matters into their own hands.

“Whether air traffic controllers go on strike or simply continue to call out sick, they are exerting their power as workers even in a challenging labor environment," she said. "Air traffic controllers are essential to our national transportation system.  If they decide they can no longer work for free, they can bring the aviation system to a halt."

The air traffic controllers' union went on strike in August 1981, which President Ronald Reagan called a "peril to national safety."  About 10 percent returned to work within a few days, but the remaining 11,345 controllers were fired.

The travel troubles come a day after a trio of airline CEOs sounded alarms that the shutdown was reaching a tipping point. The CEOs of American, Southwest and JetBlue specifically warned about the potential for flights to be delayed because a shortage of air traffic controllers would require more spacing between flights.

Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since Dec. 22.

One major airline, Air Canada, had issued a rebooking waiver for customers headed to Newark and LaGuardia because of “Air Traffic Control restrictions.” So far, none of the biggest U.S. airlines were waiving fees.

SLAHMAN@Gannett.com

Includes reporting by Democrat & Chronicle staff writer Sarah Taddeo and USA TODAY reporter Ben Mutzabaugh