Air traffic is delayed at LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Newark airports due to air traffic controller staffing issues. Follow here for the latest.
From CNN’s Gianluca Mezzofiore
Doug Behm has been sitting on a Jet Blue flight bound for Cartagena, Colombia, for hours. He shared a photo of passengers standing restlessly in the plane’s center aisle.
„Was supposed to leave at 7.51 AM,“ Behm tweeted. „Taxied for a while, then back to the gate to refuel. Delayed due to staffing issues caused by the Government shutdown.“
Nearly three hours after his flight was supposed to take off, Behm told CNN the plane was still stuck at the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport.
„Haven’t gotten an update in a while,“ he said.
Here’s the scene inside the plane:
Asked by CNN’s Jim Sciutto whether the airport delays are a direct result of the government shutdown, Trish Gilbert, Executive Vice President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said, „Absolutely.“
While Gilbert doesn’t know the details of every absence, she said there are concerns that stress and a lack of sleep could mean some air traffic controllers aren’t able to do their jobs.
„We are already short-staffed,“ she said. „So now you’ve added the stress to air traffic controllers and their personal circumstances. And they’re not sleeping at night. Now we’re concerned that they’re not fit for duty.
