The FAA says it is temporarily halting flights into New York's LaGuardia airport due to air traffic control staffing issues as a government shutdown extends into its second month. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a halt to arriving flights into New York's LaGuardia airport after air traffic control staffing issues from the government shutdown forced the temporary closure. The halt stemmed from a shortage of workers at an air traffic control center in Washington. Flights at Washington's Reagan National, Newark's Liberty International and Philadelphia's International airport also were delayed on Friday. The FAA is advising travelers to New York to check with their departure airport. Departures from Newark and Philadelphia are experiencing taxi delays of greater than 45 minutes, while arrivals are "experiencing airborne holding delays" greater than 45 minutes, according to an FAA website. Arriving flights into LaGuardia are currently delayed an average of one hour, 26 minutes, according to the FAA website. Unions representing air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants have warned that the shutdown has created safety concerns for the nation's air travel system. Like many other federal employees, the controllers have been working without pay for more than a month. "The President has been briefed and we are monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports,'' said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary. "We are in regular contact with officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA." JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) - Get Report CEO Robin Hayes said on Thursday that the U.S. aviation system was nearing a "tipping point" due to the partial government shutdown, which is in its 35th day. On a conference call with investors, Hayes said the shutdown may cause delays, long lines and cancelled flights. The stock declined 0.8% on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) - Get Report has lost $10 million to $15 million this month due the partial government shutdown, the company said Thursday. Taken in context, the losses aren't large. Southwest reported $5.7 billion in revenue in the last three months of the year, slightly beating expectations. Shares of the low-cost airline were up 1% on Friday. Southwest also said it has had to delay plans to start service from California to Hawaii because federal safety approvals are on hold. "Our remaining work is currently suspended until the government reopens and the FAA is allowed to resume normal certification activities," Southwest said in its earnings release Thursday. "We are anxious for the government to resolve this shutdown so we can bring low fares and a boost to Hawaii's travel and tourism industry." Delta Air Lines (DAL) - Get Report said it likely lost about $25 million in January with fewer government employees and contractors working as the shutdown enters its second month.<doc-sep>Flights were delayed at LaGuardia Airport (LGA), the Federal Aviation Administration is reporting, and the cause relates to staffing issues stemming from the partial government shutdown. On January 25, 2019, the FAA’s website reported around 11:30 a.m. on the east coast that some arriving flights were delayed into the airport. The reason given: Staffing issues. “Due to OTHER / STAFFING, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving La Guardia Airport, New York, NY (LGA),” the FAA website reported. Check the latest information on LGA delays here. LaGuardia airport wrote on Twitter; “Due to staffing shortages at FAA air traffic control centers along the East Coast, there are major delays at LGA. Confirm your flight with your airline.” According to CNN, there were also flight delays in Newark and Philadelphia for the same reason on January 29. Due to staffing shortages at FAA air traffic control centers along the East Coast, there are major delays at LGA. Confirm your flight with your airline. [32] — LaGuardia Airport (@LGAairport) January 25, 2019 “This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 26 minutes. To see if you may be affected, select your departure airport and check ‘Delays by Destination,'” wrote the FAA on its website about the late morning LaGuardia delays. “The status information provided on this site indicates general airport conditions; it is not flight-specific. Check with your airline to determine if your flight is affected.” You can look up flight information for any airport through the FAA website here. However, LaGuardia was open. The airport was not closed. . @LGAairport is NOT closed. Flights are still arriving and departing. Lots more departures than arrivals, which shows that the ground stop worked and limited congestion at the airport. This is exactly how it is supposed to work. pic.twitter.com/5RrARhJQpG — NYCAviation (@NYCAviation) January 25, 2019 Here’s what you need to know: People Complained About the Delays on Twitter & Sick Leave Increases Caused Them, Reports Said Some passengers took to Twitter to share photos of the delays. Trish Gilbert, executive vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CNN: “You can’t mess with a system that is so integral to the United States. This is reckless, what has been going on with the shutdown.” Gothamist reported that the staffing issues affecting LaGuardia derived from airports in Jacksonville, Florida and Washington D.C. The FAA told Gothamist that there was a “slight increase in sick leave at two facilities,” which was handled by “augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft when needed.” Nate Johnson, Director of Weather Operations for NBCUniversal Owned TV Stations, wrote on Twitter on the morning of January 25, 2019, “Ground stop for flights inbound to NY LaGuardia has been lifted. Inbound flights are being allowed to depart to LGA but with departure delays averaging almost an hour and a half.” Ground stop for flights inbound to NY LaGuardia has been lifted. Inbound flights are being allowed to depart to LGA but with departure delays averaging almost an hour and a half. pic.twitter.com/ZVJ42OXxKw — Nate Johnson (@nsj) January 25, 2019 He explained, “BTW, lots of confusion about what a ‘ground stop for such-and-such airport’ is. It doesn’t mean such-and-such airport stops. It means stuff headed for such-and-such airport is stopped or delayed on the ground. This helps pace out inbound planes.” The FAA’s website describes a ground stop as being “implemented for a number of reasons. The most common reasons are: To control air traffic volume to airports when the projected traffic demand is expected to exceed the airport’s acceptance rate for a short period of time. To temporarily stop traffic to allow time for the implementation of a longer-term solution, such as a Ground Delay Program. The affected airport’s acceptance rate has been reduced to zero.” Johnson also reported that staffing issues at other airports, including those in Florida and Washington D.C., were affecting the LaGuardia delays. FAA now holding flights at their departing airports into NY LaGuardia due to "staffing issues" in DC, FL. They expect average delays to be 41m, up to 1h 15m. pic.twitter.com/0y5HdyK2D2 — Nate Johnson (@nsj) January 25, 2019 Alexandra Ocasio-Ortez commented on the LaGuardia situation on Twitter, writing, “In my 1st speech on the Floor, I warned about shutdown stress on NYC air traffic control. Now LaGuardia is grounded. Do you understand the economic + social impact of grounding flights because two people are insisting on a project *now* that the majority of Americans oppose?” Some people expressed anger on social media about the situation at LGA. One man wrote, “Flying into LaGuardia tonight. Should be fun…I don’t want a wall. I would like to be able to fly into other cities though.” A woman wrote: “Still stuck at #laguardia. 1st flight canceled, 2nd delayed. sigh. Shutdown causes delays at airport.”<doc-sep>
The flights have been halted amid a US government shutdown that resulted in shortages of staff. The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights to LaGuardia Airport in New York on Friday after air traffic control staff shortages. In addition, flights have been delayed in Philadelphia and Newark, the official body said on its website. READ MORE: Melania Trump Flies Air Force as POTUS Grounds Pelosi Plane Amid Shutdown The administration said in a statement that it has been witnessing an increase in the number of workers taking sick leave. "We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two air traffic control facilities affecting New York and Florida. As with severe storms, we will adjust operations to a safe rate to match available controller resources. We've mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft as needed," the FAA said. Following the reports, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sander stated that the US authorities were "monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports," and were "in regular contact with officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA." Commenting on the situation in the airport later in the day, Delta Air Lines said that it was experiencing about 200 flight delays after a staffing shortage at two air traffic control facilities due to the ongoing partial US government shutdown caused a temporary ground stop at New York’s LaGuardia airport and delays at other airports. "As of Friday morning, Delta is experiencing about 200 flight delays at New York’s LaGuardia Airport as well as other airports in the Northeast region due to the [Federal Aviation Administration’s] Ground Delay Program," the statement said. Delta is advising its customers travelling on Friday to check their flight status before heading to airports. The Federal Aviation Administration's statement follows Thursday reports that trade unions of US air traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants issued a warning to the Congress and the White House that the US government shutdown posed an "unprecedented" threat to air safety, stressing that the situation was deteriorating due to understaffing and overtime work without pay. This comes amid the US federal government's partial shutdown, which has been ongoing since 22 December, due to the dispute between Trump and congressional Democrats over funds to build a border wall. Trump asked Congress to provide $5.7 billion for the wall, but Democrats refused to meet his demand. Some 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or are working without pay because of the government shutdown.