BWI Airport: No Delays From Government Shutdown

HANOVER, MD — The partial government shutdown, now in its 35th day, is having an affect on air travel Friday due to federal aviation worker sick callouts during the longest partial government shutdown in history. New York City’s LaGuardia Airport stopped receiving flights because of a shortage of air traffic controllers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and that will probably affect air travel across the country.

Officials at Baltimore Washington International Airport say general arrival and departure delays are 15 minutes or less on Friday. No airline flight impacts were noted because of the situation in New York; there is no nonstop service between BWI and LaGuardia, which saw delays of about 90 minutes earlier, according to a Federal Aviation Administration map. Check back here throughout the day if you plan to travel or meet a flight.

The FAA’s stop on flights into LaGuardia came two days after aviation workers released a statement warning the shutdown poses serious risks to both its members and travelers.

“In our risk-averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,” the statement released Wednesday read.

Airlines are pressuring President Trump and Congress to reopen the government.

“We’re working closely with FAA and airport officials to try to minimize the impact on our operations and, most importantly, on our customers,” United Airlines said in a statement Friday. “At this point, we don’t anticipate significant schedule disruptions, but it is another good illustration of the escalating impact of the government shutdown and the need for the federal government to promptly re-open.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump is closely monitoring the situation.

"The president has been briefed and we are monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports," Saders said. "We are in regular contact with officials at the Department of Transportation and the FAA."

The shutdown entered its 35th day Friday, which also marks the second missed paycheck for the 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed during the dispute over border wall funding. Workers who are critical to air safety are among those working without pay.

Read More: Flights Into LaGuardia Stopped Amid Shutdown

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LaGuardia-bound flights from Newark International and Philadelphia International airports were delayed an average of 41 minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

"We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two air traffic control facilities affecting New York and Florida," the FAA said in a statement. "As with severe storms, we will adjust operations to a safe rate to match available controller resources. We've mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft as needed.

"The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system," the statement continued. "The public can monitor air traffic atfly.faa.gov and they should check with airline carriers for more information."

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Photo courtesy of BWI Airport