The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights into New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Friday due to a shortage of Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff.
On Wednesday night Air Traffic Controllers Association President Paul Rinaldi told CNN‘s Chris Cuomo that ATC workers are making “routine mistakes” due to high stress brought on by the partial government shutdown, which entered its 35th day on Friday.
“The biggest toll I have right now is the human toll, the fatigue in my work environment right now where I’m seeing routine mistakes because they’re thinking about which credit cards can I consolidate up for zero interest?” said Rinaldi.
Rinaldi also pointed to growing equipment concerns caused by staffing shortages at air traffic controlling facilities.
“Our equipment is not being fixed,” Rinaldi said. “Equipment that we’re relying on to make sure that planes line up on the right surface that they’re supposed to land on … equipment like being able to relay to the pilot that dangerous weather is ahead.” –CNN
Shares of Delta and JetBlue took immediate hits on the news:
Developing…
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2MypimW Tyler Durden