This Tool Reveals How the Government Shutdown Affects Flights

"As you're almost certainly aware, the United States is currently in the midst of one of its longest government shutdowns ever. That doesn't mean that every part of the federal government has shuttered - mail deliveries are still happening, for instance - but some federal employees are working without pay, and that includes air traffic controllers. And that, in turn, is having a cascading effect on commercial air travel."

"Beginning on Thursday, there has been an increase in the number of delayed flights in the U.S. Reuters reported that airports in Florida, Texas and Washington, D.C. all experienced flight delays due to a lack of air traffic controllers, information that comes from the FAA. But it's one thing to read about flight delays at a variety of airports; it's another to actually see the information in context."

"In a recent article for The New York Times, Karoun Demirjian and Christine Chung explored the underlying issues behind these air traffic control issues. The biggest element at play here is that federal air traffic controllers have now missed a full paycheck, making it easy to understand why some haven't been showing up at work. The FAA will also implement a policy of "staffing triggers" when enough air traffic controllers are absent, which leads to a reduction of flights into an airport."

Federal air traffic controllers have missed paychecks during the government shutdown, producing absences and staffing disruptions. The FAA reports increased delayed flights across multiple states and will use staffing triggers to reduce flights when controller shortages occur. FlightAware created a Misery Map to track delays and cancellations since October 30 and to show the proportion of affected flights relative to on-time operations. Newark Liberty International, Denver International, and Dallas Fort Worth are among the airports with the largest shares of delayed or cancelled flights. Controller staffing shortfalls are cascading into broader commercial travel disruptions.

Read at InsideHook