On Tuesday, the FAA announced a plan to cancel more flights, ordering a 6 % flight traffic reduction.
Airports across the country are dealing with air traffic control staffing shortages amid the government shutdown, and travelers are now experiencing flight delays. Even though the Federal Aviation Administration has grounded flights due to air traffic control staffing shortages during the government shutdown, training to fill job vacancies is still clear for takeoff, though some industry experts worry the loss of paychecks during the 40-plus-day period could discourage prospects from entering the field.
However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered a glimpse of hope with regard to the ongoing air traffic controller shortages, with some of these federal employees using their sick days when faced with the task of working without a paycheck. "We're going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel, that 6 % we have in place right now. But it depends on controllers coming back to work. Today is a good sign. We had four staffing triggers today. On Saturday, there were 81. Sunday, I think, was 53. Real issues in the last three days, but today looks better. If the House does their work tomorrow, I think we're well on our way to get to more normal air travel, less delays, and less cancellations," Duffy said. Congress is one step closer to ending the government shutdown, with the House potentially taking a vote on the funding bill on Wednesday."I'm supercharging our air traffic control school, our academy, getting more young people to come in. From the time they apply to the time they get in the academy, I've truncated that. I'm paying them a bonus to come to the academy. We've kept paying the students at the academy a stipend, to make sure that the academy is still operational," Duffy said. Tim Kiefer is an assistant professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a school known for their programs training air traffic controllers, pilots, and others in the air travel industry. He also worked as an air traffic controller for 22 years at the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center, O’Hare International Airport, and Harry Reid International Airport - some of the busiest airports in the world."Obviously, there has been a shortage of air traffic controllers for a while now," Kiefer said. "They've employed this new Enhanced College Training Initiative program, or ECTI, to try to bring in new air traffic controllers to the university system and then directly to facilities, instead of going to the FAA academy in Oklahoma City, thus, bypassing that but getting the same type of training at the university, the approved training at the university, that they would get at the academy." Even though this shutdown did not also ground training classes, Kiefer told 7News there could be other ripple effects to air traffic control towers as a result of this shutdown, now the longest in history. "In past government shutdowns, they would actually shut the academy down and send people home. In fact, back in the 2019 shutdown, they did shut the academy down, which then pushed training back," Kiefer said. "Luckily, those students were not sent home. They have been continuing the training. However, not knowing who is essential and who is not, there's still an administrative process to onboard people. You need to go through security background checks, you need to get a medical clearance in order to be an air traffic controller. There's testing, psychological evaluations. That could all have been put on hold because of the government shutdown, thus slowing down the pipeline going into the academy, even though the people there are continuing their training.""The new simulators to get these new air traffic controllers, that will all stop," Sununu said then. "Purchasing those simulators, getting them in place, because it will be a big unknown in terms of when is that check going to be cut? When can we actually make those purchases?" On Tuesday, Duffy also provided an update for air traffic controllers dealing with turbulent times while waiting for their next paycheck."They'll be paid within 24-to-48 hours of the government opening. They'll get 70 % of their backpay in that timeframe. And then after, the remainder will be made up. I think it's about a week they'll get the remainder of their pay," Duffy said."It took me about five to six weeks before I was made whole back in the 2019 shutdown," Kiefer said. Despite delivering the news about how quickly he expects controllers to get their back pay, Duffy also offered an ominous look into the "What we've seen in the course of this shutdown is a far greater majority of those controllers I thought were going to stay are now retiring, so it makes our problem more difficult. It's more challenging, but we are going to get the academy fully operational to get as many controllers into the airspace as possible to make up that differential," Duffy said. "We've seen young people are less willing to be air traffic controllers when they see they may not be paid. That's a problem."Kiefer added: "Unfortunately, when you have a longest-ever, 40-plus day government shutdown, that doesn't do well to say, 'Hey, come and please be an air traffic controller.' It actually could deter people from jumping into this profession because now they look at it as, 'Well, I don't have some security because I may not get a paycheck because of government appropriations from time to time, or whatever it might be.'"A devastating car crash in Chillicothe has left a family reeling, with a father and three boys hospitalized and one child dead.A viral video showing a large group of teens fighting inside Easton Town Center over the weekend is prompting community leaders to speak out about youth behavioOhio SNAP recipients will start receiving partial benefits this week, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says.A Reynoldsburg man holding a newborn is accused of attacking a nurse at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.A chaotic scene unfolded at Easton Town Center over the weekend as a large fight involving more than a dozen young people broke out on the second floor near H&M
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