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Shutdown raises risks for aviation security

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Flight delays surge amid staff shortages; 7,000 delayed

Monday

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Union urges shutdown resolution; FAA short 3,500

controllers

(Recasts throughout with comments from Duffy at LaGuardia

Airport)

By Doyinsola Oladipo and David Shepardson

NEW YORK/ARLINGTON, Virginia, Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that air

traffic controller absences were continuing to snarl flights as

they missed their first full paycheck and a government shutdown

hit its 28th day.

Staffing shortages during the government shutdown have

repeatedly disrupted the aviation industry, with nearly 7,000

flights delayed on Monday and 8,800 on Sunday. As of noon ET

(1600 GMT), 1,800 flights were delayed, according to

FlightAware, a flight-tracking website.

Duffy said 44% of staffing issues on Sunday were caused by

air traffic controller absences and 24% on Monday, compared to

5% on average before the shutdown.

Duffy was speaking at a press conference at New York's

LaGuardia Airport, flanked by air traffic controllers and the

president of their union, the latest in a series of appearances

at airports during the shutdown aimed at prodding Democrats to

give up opposition to the Republican-proposed government funding

bill.

He said it remains safe to fly, and if controllers are not

at work at certain towers, the Federal Aviation Administration

slows flights. "Our number one priority is safety," Duffy said.

Duffy said the department had not been able to find funding

to pay controllers and urged Democrats to vote to open the

government. Democrats say Republicans refuse to negotiate and

are responsible for the continued shutdown.

"Don't hold our skies hostage," Duffy said. "There is not a

lot of leeway we have to get people paid."

CONTROLLERS WORKING SECOND JOBS

Hundreds of U.S. air traffic controllers have taken

temporary second jobs, adding pressure to a strained aviation

safety system, National Air Traffic Controllers Association

President Nick Daniels said on Tuesday.

The number of controllers working second jobs is set to rise

as they look for ways to pay their bills, Daniels told reporters

at Reagan Washington National Airport.

"It's quickly going to be 1,000," Daniels said, urging the

government to end the standoff. "We want the shutdown to end

today... Whatever way that it gets done, that's what the

American people deserve."

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

targeted staffing levels, with many already working mandatory

overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.

Roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000

Transportation Security Administration officers must work

without pay after a budget impasse between Republican President

Donald Trump and congressional Democrats triggered the shutdown.

Duffy has said controllers are getting jobs delivering food

or driving for Uber to make ends meet.

Daniels said the lack of pay was a dangerous distraction and

that "every day that this shutdown drags on, the system becomes

less safe."

DELAYS ADD PRESSURE ON LAWMAKERS

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) had 34% of its flights delayed on

Monday, while American Airlines ( AAL ) had 29%, according to

FlightAware. For United Airlines, 19% of its flights

were delayed with 22% for Delta Air Lines ( DAL ).

The delays and cancellations have frustrated the public and

intensified scrutiny of the shutdown's impact, raising pressure

on lawmakers to resolve it.

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

air traffic controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed

paychecks, extending wait times at some airport checkpoints.

Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and

Washington and the flight disruptions were credited with

prompting the government to end the shutdown.