A major California airport was left without air traffic controllers for several hours on Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced, attributing the incident to the ongoing federal budget impasse in the United States.
The shortage of controllers affected Burbank, Los Angeles’ secondary airport, which serves about six million passengers per year.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a bulletin reporting delays of up to two and a half hours for departing flights, citing “staffing” among the causes.
“We advise passengers to check with their airline — before arriving at the airport — for information regarding possible delays or cancellations,” a spokesperson explained.
According to ABC7, the tasks usually handled by Burbank’s control tower are now being managed by a team based in San Diego, more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the south.
Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on the federal budget last week, triggering a government “shutdown”: with no funding to operate, several federal agencies have closed, and hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been placed on involuntary furlough.
Air traffic controllers, employed by the FAA, are considered essential workers and are expected to continue their duties even without pay.
However, this system, relying on volunteers’ commitment and sense of duty, has its limits — as the U.S. already witnessed during Donald Trump’s first term, when a 35-day government shutdown became the longest in American history.
During that period, some unpaid airport security agents began calling in sick, while air traffic controllers sued the government in an attempt to receive their salaries.
The current shutdown has entered its sixth day, and some observers fear it could last for several weeks.
Republicans are proposing a simple extension of the current budget until the end of November.
Democrats oppose this plan, demanding the renewal of public health insurance programs for the most vulnerable and calling on the Trump administration to reverse recent healthcare spending cuts enacted by conservatives.
