The government shutdown is putting a renewed spotlight on the cracks in the US aviation system

By RIO YAMAT Associated Press Airlines and Progress Reporter A startling message came over the radio from an air traffic control tower near Los Angeles less than a week into the federal leadership shutdown The tower is closed due to staffing Without enough air traffic controllers to guide planes into and out of Hollywood Burbank Airport the tower went dark for almost six hours on Oct leaving pilots to coordinate their movements among themselves Flight delays averaged two-and-a-half hours in one of the first visible signs that the shutdown was already taking a toll on the nation s aviation system Related Articles Meta removes ICE-tracking Facebook page in Chicago at the request of the Justice Department Florida judge temporarily blocks transfer of downtown Miami land for Trump s presidential library US revokes visas for foreigners over Charlie Kirk-related speech House Republicans seek testimony from ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith Boston Logan among airports not displaying Kristi Noem establishment shutdown video Since the shutdown began Oct the Federal Aviation Administration has announced controller shortages in cities across the U S from airports in Boston and Philadelphia to control centers in Atlanta and Houston Flight delays have spread to airports in Nashville Dallas Newark and more And already there has been an increase in unscheduled absences among safeguard screeners at particular airports The union representing Transportation Safety Administration employees says the absences haven t yet caused major disruptions but it warned longer lines at shield checkpoints could soon become a reality after workers received their final paychecks over the weekend Experts and union leaders say the disruptions are a stark reminder that the aviation system is already stretched too thin by chronic understaffing and outdated innovation They warn the cracks in the system could rapidly deepen the longer the shutdown drags on and critical aviation workers are without their regular paychecks It s like having a drought the year after you had a drought Greg Raiff CEO of Elevate Aviation Group described The Associated Press Problems have persisted for years These concerns aren t new In the aviation system buckled under the weight of a -day governing body shutdown the longest in U S history during President Donald Trump s first term Around the three-week mark air traffic controllers various of them working up to hours a week sued the establishment over their missed paychecks One terminal at the Miami International Airport was forced to close because measure screeners were calling out sick in large numbers Several even quit altogether Transportation Assurance Administration worker guides travelers at a assurance checkpoint in Denver International Airport Thursday Oct in Denver AP Photo David Zalubowski Here we are so numerous years later and the problems have not been addressed declared aviation attorney Ricardo Martinez-Cid a Florida Bar-certified expert on aviation law who regularly represents crash casualties Now we re in a worse position when we had been put on notice We had the opportunity to address it Since then the country has faced repeated warnings In January a mid-air crash over the Potomac River involving a commercial jet and a military helicopter killed people A series of equipment failures and radar outages this year also highlighted the need for upgrades Controller shortage at a critical point Before the latest shutdown both the FAA and TSA were already dealing with staffing shortages That includes a shortage of about air traffic controllers Nick Daniels president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has mentioned staffing levels have reached a critical point the lowest in decades The shortage is so severe that even a meager air traffic controllers missing work can disrupt operations at already understaffed facilities And on top of that he revealed they re working with unreliable equipment The shutdown began just as the FAA was starting to make particular progress on addressing the shortage of controllers and modernizing the outdated equipment they rely on that keeps disrupting flights when it malfunctions The agency says it topped its goal of hiring controllers this year after streamlining the application process at its academy in Oklahoma City but it will take years still to eliminate the shortage And it had just begun looking for companies to help oversee a billion effort to overhaul its aging and complex hardware systems Now the shutdown is delaying those long-needed efforts And union leaders say the staffing shortages may be worse by the time the cabinet reopens Shutdown could increase gaps in staffing Johnny Jones secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Cabinet Employees chapter representing TSA workers expressed concern that the shutdown could drive even more defense screeners to leave the agency especially given the uncertainty that the workers already have faced this year That includes the Trump administration s attempts to revoke their collective bargaining rights Daniels meanwhile warned it could stoke fear among newer controllers and trainees who might reconsider the career entirely to avoid working in future shutdowns It s a long-standing concern In after the -day shutdown ended a congressional committee hearing dug into the impacts on air trip All of these air traffic controllers and aviation safety professionals were used as pawns in a political fight that had nothing to do with aviation This is wrong and must not be allowed to happen again warned the union leader representing air traffic controllers at the time At the hearing there were also bipartisan calls for transformation to keep the FAA funded without interruption even when the rest of the governing body shuts down as one lawmaker put it Stories were shared of controllers and TSA agents taking on extra jobs to pay rent mortgage and other bills despite working longer shifts to fill the gaps in staffing Lawmakers and industry representatives who testified agreed The shutdown made the aviation system less safe We implore all involved please heed not only our warnings but the entire stakeholder population s warnings This vicious budgetary cycle of stops and starts with little to no stability or predictably has just got to stop noted Nick Calio then-president and CEO of Airlines for America an industry arrangement group representing airlines including Delta United and Southwest And yet the system remains vulnerable to shutdowns seven years later Martinez-Cid declared We re long overdue for a wake-up call Associated Press transportation reporter Josh Funk contributed to this review