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FAA issues ground-stop alert for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport amid staffing woes due to US govt shutdown
The FAA advisory for the Texas airport comes due to staffing woes amid the government shutdown.
As the US government shutdown enters Day 13, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a “ground stop” alert for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas.
As per a Reuters report, the FAA advisory for the Texas airport comes due to staffing woes amid the government shutdown.
A ground stop is an air traffic control procedure that requires all aircraft that fit certain criteria to remain on the ground.
This ground stop alert was issued an hour after the FAA issued a ground delay for flights arriving to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport until 9 PM on Monday.
As per the FAA advisory, the delays would average up to 40 minutes due to air traffic controller staffing issues.
This is not the only airport impacted by the government shutdown. Staffing woes have also been reported in airports in Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Philadelphia and others.
More recently, the air traffic control tower at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California was left unmanned for a few hours.
Since the shutdown, several FAA notices have stated that many staff are calling in sick to work since they will not be paid.
A Reuters report said around 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers are required to turn up for work during the shutdown.
US shutdown could be longest in history, warns Johnson
The US government went into a shutdown after US President Donald Trump's Republican Party failed to reach an agreement with Democrats on the spending bill.
As the deadlock between Democrats and Republicans enters Day 13, House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that this federal shutdown could be the longest the US has seen.
"We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” said Johnson.
Furthermore, Vice President JD Vance has also said that this shutdown would result in some "painful cuts" to the federal workforce.
