FAA: Sick Calls Cause Flight Delays; Minor Florida Impacts

FAA: Sick Calls Causing Flight Delays; Minor Impacts in Tampa, Orlando

BY Spectrum News Staff Florida

PUBLISHED 1:00 PM ET Jan. 25, 2019 PUBLISHED 1:00 PM EST Jan. 25, 2019

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Federal Aviation Administration has acknowledged delays in air travel Friday were because of a "slight increase in sick leave" at two air traffic control facilities, one in Florida.

FAA acknowledges flight delays Friday caused by sick calls
Sick calls happened at air-traffic facilities in Jacksonville, DC
Minor effects at Orlando, Tampa international airports
CHECK FLIGHT STATUS: Check nationwide airport delays at FAA.gov

The increase in sick calls were at facilities in Jacksonville and Washington, D.C. that control high-altitude traffic over seven states, the Associated Press reported.

Here is the FAA’s response: pic.twitter.com/NN63PjWgj9
— Erin Murray News 13 (@emurray1) January 25, 2019

Delays in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta — the world's busiest airport last year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported — were longest of the major U.S. airports, at 1 hour, 15 minutes and increasing, according to the FAA website.

The FAA flight delays tool blamed staffing at the Jacksonville facility for Atlanta departures.

Tampa International Airport tweeted that operations were normal and that average delays were about 15 minutes.

At Orlando International Airport, traffic destined for La Guardia were delayed an average of almost 90 minutes, according to the FAA. La Guardia was under a "traffic management program" stemming from the Washington facility, according to the FAA.

Due to staffing shortages at FAA air traffic control centers along the East Coast, there are major delays at LGA. Confirm your flight with your airline. [32]
— LaGuardia Airport (@LGAairport) January 25, 2019

Air traffic was also delayed at Philadelphia International and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Air traffic controllers and TSA security screeners have been working without pay for more than a month during the partial government shutdown. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump officials were "monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports."

Sanjay Shetty was waiting at LaGuardia to board a flight to Detroit when he heard an announcement about a ground stop due to a "staff shortage" at about 10:15 a.m. He said he and other passengers eventually started boarding at 10:50 a.m., which was their scheduled departure time.

"The shutdown hadn't affected me until now," Shetty, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, tweeted.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.