Major US airports have been hit with disruption as the government shutdown enters into the second week.
According to NBC News, several flights were delayed for the second straight day on Tuesday, October 7, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dealt with the shortage of staff due to the shutdown.
As per the FAA, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, Tennessee and Nashville airports reported delays because of a shortage of air traffic controller staff.
Moreover, airports in Denver, Phoenix, Burbank, California, and Newark, New Jersey, also experienced delays within the first 24 hours, but then air traffic controllers started working without pay.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) told its members that it does not "endorse, support, or condone" any activities of the federal employees that cause flight delays or compromise flight security.
The union in a post on its website stated, “Participating in a job action could result in removal from federal service. It is not only illegal, but it also undermines NATCA’s credibility and severely weakens our ability to effectively advocate for you and your families."
According to FlightAware, around 3,200 US flights were delayed until Tuesday afternoon.
Drew MacQueen, a union official with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told NewsNation, “Air traffic controllers didn't start the shutdown, and certainly air traffic controllers aren't going to end the shutdown. That's up to the politicians. What they don't need is the fatigue of dealing with that job while being short-staffed, working six days a week, 10 hours a day. Now they're worried about when they'll get paid."
For the unversed, the US government shutdown began on October 1, after Republican and Democrat lawmakers failed to pass the funding bill. Due to deadlock in Congress, 40% of the federal workers, 750,000, are on unpaid leave.
