Chaos at the New York airport caused chaos and massive flight delays.

On Friday, a short flight suspension occurred at LaGuardia Airport, which was the result of a sharp increase in absenteeism at other airports due to the shutdown.

Фото: Depositphotos

This happened around 10: 00, only the ground delay program was working at the airport, the takeoffs and landings of the aircraft at the airport again resumed only after 40 minutes. At the same time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that the staffing of LaGuardia was sufficient, but the problems were at the airports of Washington, DC, and Florida, which were supported by some dispatchers of the New York airport, writes NBC.

“We have experienced a slight increase in people taking time off work at two air traffic control towers in New York and Florida. As with severe storms, we adapt operations to a safe norm to match air traffic controller resources. We are reducing their workload by increasing staffing levels, rerouting traffic and increasing aircraft spacing as needed,” the FAA said.

According to the Administration, the suspension of flights led to a delay of arriving flights to LaGuardia by about 1 hours 26 minutes.

Later, LaGuardia Airport published a statement saying: “Due to the lack of resources, the FAA air traffic control centers along the east coast of the LGA (LaGuardia) are experiencing long delays.”

At least one traveler wrote on Twitter that she had been sitting in an airplane on the runway for almost an hour due to the “lack of personnel in air traffic control”.

Another traveler said that his JetBlue flight was delayed almost 2 hours after its initial route was canceled due to staffing problems; He said that the plane had to return to the airport in order to refuel for the new route, because there were no controllers who would control the flight of the liner along the previously planned route. Another traveler said she was stuck on a Southwest flight to Baltimore.

Another person traveling on the Delta flight described total chaos in Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport. Delta issued a statement saying that it works closely with the FAA and airport officials in an effort to minimize the impact of staff shortages on its work and clients.

The problems were not only at the airport LaGuardia, and not only on the ground.

In video taken aboard a Delta flight from Atlanta to LaGuardia, the pilot can be heard telling passengers, “I'm sure they're doing their best, but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes another 20 to 30 minutes before we can board.” for landing. I can't see the taxiways, but just listening to the radio chatter I have a feeling it won't happen very quickly, so I'll keep you posted. We're at the top of the list, once they let us do it I'll have a better idea of ​​how long it'll take."

In general, the chaos in air traffic was observed on the entire east coast.

Many people and politicians, including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, blamed what was happening on US President Donald Trump, who is keeping the government closed.

In response to criticism, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, said the president was monitoring the situation.

“The President has been briefed and we are monitoring ongoing delays at some airports. We are in constant contact with DOT and FAA officials,” she said.

Due to delays, Air Canada revised its policy on tickets, allowing customers to change their dates and times of departure without penalty.

United Airlines said it is working to minimize the impact of the flight on the airline’s operations.

“We are working closely with the FAA and airport officials to try to minimize the impact of the situation on our operations and, most importantly, on our customers. We do not expect significant disruption to the schedule at this time, but this is another good illustration of the growing impact of the government shutdown and the need to reopen the federal government as quickly as possible,” United said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Delta has experienced hundreds of flight delays at various airports.

"As of Friday morning, Delta is experiencing approximately 200 flight delays at New York's LaGuardia Airport, as well as at other airports in the northeast region of the country," the airline said in a statement.

Trade unions representing air traffic controllers, flight attendants and pilots are increasingly worried about the safety of their members and passengers, since the government’s closure has been going on for the fifth week.

The presidents of the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers, the Airline Pilots Association and the Flight Attendants Association warned in a joint statement that the aviation industry “cannot even calculate the level of risk that currently exists in the United States and predict the point at which the system’s work will breach. This is unprecedented. ”

“Our air traffic control workforce is already at a 30-year low, and controllers can only maintain system efficiency and capacity through long hours, including 10-hour, 6-day workweeks at many of our nation's busiest facilities.” - the presidents said in a statement.

Recall more than a month ago (December 22) in the US, began shatdaun - partial closure of the federal government due to lack of funding. The congress and presidential administration cannot agree on expenses for the next year or at least several months. President Donald Trump is demanding almost 6 billion dollars to be allocated for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, but Congress, whose lower house is under the control of the Democratic Party after the mid-term elections, refuses to allocate this money.

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