By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A partial U.S. government shutdown next week would halt air traffic controller hiring and training and cost the U.S. travel sector $1 billion per week, an industry group said on Thursday. The U.S. Travel Association, which represents airlines, hotels, car rental firms and other travel companies, called on Congress to […]
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US funding lapse would halt air traffic controller hiring, group says
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By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A partial U.S. government shutdown next week would halt air traffic controller hiring and training and cost the U.S. travel sector $1 billion per week, an industry group said on Thursday.
The U.S. Travel Association, which represents airlines, hotels, car rental firms and other travel companies, called on Congress to act swiftly to keep the federal government open, warning of the impacts of an understaffed air traffic control system.
“The consequences of inaction are immediate and severe,” the group said, saying it would worsen staffing shortages of Transportation Security Administration airport security officers and air traffic controllers, “threatening longer airport security lines, flight delays, and cancellations.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said that under its shutdown plan released in March it would not be able to conduct air traffic controller hiring or field training of air traffic controllers, but the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City could continue using prior year funding.
It is not clear how long the academy could operate without new funding. Air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees that staff airport checkpoints are among the government workers who would be required to keep working but would not be paid.
The FAA said last week it has hired 2,000 new controllers this year who are in training and plans to hire another 2,200 over the next 12 months.
Congress in July approved $12.5 billion to begin a massive overhaul over five years. A persistent shortage of controllers has delayed flights and many are working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks. The FAA is about 3,000 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels.
In 2019 during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports. The FAA was forced to slow air traffic in New York, which put pressure on lawmakers to quickly end the standoff.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)