Bad news for travelers: Flights to LAX disrupted on Sunday: “that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin”
Trump’s government shutdown is causing problems for workers and travellers alike across the US.
As Trump takes his luxury private aircraft to Japan for a nice time of applauses and flapping flags, us normal people are experiencing the effects of the government shutdown caused by his stubbornness and archaic policies that have forced an impasse at the highest level.
On Sunday morning, flights to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) were temporarily grounded after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared a “ground stop” due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
The pause in play affected planes outbound for Los Angeles, halting departures until staffing levels were deemed sufficient to be able to work safely in an already high-pressure environment.
According to the FAA, this disruption is not just fixed on LA but comes as part of a wider pattern of staffing strain across major U.S. airports. Controllers, who continue reporting for duty even though they are not getting paid, face mounting pressure and uncertainty. The effects reached other hubs, including those in Chicago, Washington and Newark, where arrivals were throttled or delayed because the controllers’ workforce dipped below safe thresholds.
Reports say that the LAX stoppage lasted for about an hour and a half: it began around 11:42 a.m. EDT and was lifted by 1:30 p.m. EDT. Although the hold was relatively brief and LAX did not see a massive backlog in arrivals afterward, flight monitoring sites showed other airports fared worse under similar staffing duress.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy didn’t hold back when he pointed directly at the shutdown as a key factor. Speaking on Fox, Duffy said: “Just yesterday ... we had 22 staffing triggers. That’s one of the highest that we have seen in the system since the shutdown began. And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin."
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