*

13,000 air travel controllers will miss paychecks on

October 28

*

Lawmakers in both parties have raised growing concerns

about

impact of shutdown on air safety

*

FAA says it slows flights when it does not have enough air

travel controllers to fully staff towers

(Adds more details on flight delays, background in paragraphs

3-10)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation

Administration said late Sunday that air traffic control

staffing issues were delaying travel at airports in Dallas,

Chicago, Atlanta and Newark as a U.S. government shutdown hit

its 19th day.

The FAA said numerous staffing triggers had been received

for the evening shift and flights could also be delayed in Las

Vegas and Phoenix because of air traffic control absences.

FlightAware said more than 5,800 flights had been delayed on

Sunday. Weather issues and a Formula 1 race in Austin were also

impacting flights.

More than 20% of American Airlines ( AAL ) and Southwest

Airlines ( LUV ) flights were delayed Sunday, according to

FlightAware.

Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000

Transportation Security Administration officers must work during

the government shutdown, but are not being paid.

Earlier this month, more

than 23,000 flights were delayed

over a week and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said

53% of flight delays were due to staffing issues, compared with

5% normally, but staffing issues have largely improved over the

last week.

Air traffic control has become a flashpoint in the

debate over the shutdown with both parties blaming the other.

Unions and

airlines have urged a quick end

to the standoff.

The Trump

administration is airing videos at some airport

security checkpoints blaming Democrats, but many airports

have refused to run them

.

In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of

absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed

paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports.

Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and

Washington, which put pressure on lawmakers to quickly end the

standoff.

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of

targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory

overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.