*

More than 3,300 flights delayed Thursday as shutdown

continues

*

Senator urges airlines to quickly approve refunds

*

Union says there are procedures to deal with misuse of

sick

leave

(Updates flight delays in paragraphs 4-5)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation

Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Thursday that the government

could dismiss air traffic controllers who repeatedly fail to

show up for work during the government shutdown as flight delays

continue to rise.

"If we have a continual small subset of controllers that

don't show up to work, and they're the problem children ... if

we have some on our staff that aren't dedicated like we need,

we're going to let them go," Duffy said on Fox Business' Varney

& Co. "I can't have people not showing up for work."

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it was

seeing a variety of staffing issues for a fourth straight day in

places like Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington,

Roanoke and central Florida.

There have been nearly 21,000 flight delays since Monday

- including 6,300 on Thursday, according to FlightAware, with

thousands tied to the FAA slowing flights because of air traffic

controller absences.

United and Delta each had about 500

delayed flights on Thursday, or about 15% of their flights,

while American Airlines ( AAL ) had 850 delayed, or about a

quarter of its flights, and Southwest ( LUV ) 1,300, or 30% of

its flights.

Duffy praised the 90% to 95% of controllers who are

showing up daily despite not getting paid.

"It's a small fraction of people who don't come to work that

can create this massive disruption, and that's what you're

seeing rippling through our skies today," Duffy added.

PROCEDURES IN PLACE

A National Air Traffic Controllers Association spokesperson

said in response to Duffy, "There are processes and procedures

in place to deal with the inappropriate use of sick leave."

The union has repeatedly urged controllers to keep working

during the nine-day-old government shutdown. NATCA told workers

that "participating in a job action could result in removal from

federal service" and is illegal.

The U.S. has faced an air traffic controller staffing

shortage for more than a decade and many have been working

mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.

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

staffing levels.

"Historically, there's about 5% of delays that is attributed

to staffing issues in our towers. Last couple days it has been

53%," Duffy said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Democratic Senator Ed Markey urged major

airlines to provide consumers refunds if needed "without

requiring them to jump through unnecessary and difficult hoops."

Airlines are not required to provide hotels, meals or pay other

costs tied to delays that are the fault of the FAA.

Air traffic control staffing issues during this shutdown

have emerged earlier than the last major halt to government

funding in 2019, during U.S. President Donald Trump's first

term, leading to unexpected shortages in cities around the

country.

During that 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, which put pressure

on lawmakers to quickly end the standoff.

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

Transportation Security Administration officers must still turn

up for work during the government shutdown, but they are not

being paid.