Concerns about air traffic disruption are growing as the lockdown begins its second week
Senators are increasingly concerned that growing flight delays and the absence of air traffic controllers could snowball to the level seen during the 2019 government shutdown, with some believing it could once again be key to breaking the stalemate.
Air traffic control staffing issues caused major delays on Monday and Tuesday, as the closure extended into a second week, with nearly 10,000 flights affected. Those problems were not evident on Wednesday, although more than 3,000 flights experienced delays, albeit some caused by weather in the Northeast.
But anxiety is beginning to mount for lawmakers, who remember the air travel disruptions that ultimately forced President Trump to back down on his request for border wall funding nearly seven years ago.
“It has become a pressure point,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R.N.D.). “You’re talking about sabotage — if air travel shuts down and all the air traffic controllers get sick, you’ve basically shut down the economy.”
“I hope we don’t get to that point,” he added.
The 35-day shutdown in 2019 reached a turning point when 10 air traffic controllers — six from Northern Virginia and four from Florida — called in sick, setting off a domino effect that led to major delays at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, including a ground hold, and at several other East Coast airports.
The process has been painless so far, although problems have been reported at and near airports in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee, in recent days. More than 1,000 flights were cancelled, although weather played a role in some of them.
The Department of Transportation announced earlier in the week that more than 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown because they, along with TSA employees, are considered essential workers.
But lawmakers are monitoring the situation closely, especially as they look for potential cliffhangers amid the ongoing stalemate.
Democrats have called for action to extend support for the Affordable Care Act, which is set to expire on December 31, with Republicans stressing that there will be no talks on that front until the minority party votes to reopen the government.
The Senate showed no sign of action on Wednesday as Democrats voted for the sixth time against a temporary GOP “clean” spending measure that would fund the government through late November. The worsening impasse has left lawmakers acknowledging that it will likely take troops outside the Capitol to push one side or the other to the negotiating table.
“I’m certainly concerned about that,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), whose state saw problems this week at Denver International Airport. “I think this is one of the many things that complicates the government shutdown.”
Hickenlooper noted that he and his colleagues have had several conversations about air travel issues in recent days.
“In universe, that means we’re paying attention,” Hickenlooper said, adding that it “hasn’t dominated” the conversations yet.
Sen. Markwayne Mullen (R-Okla.), a top ally of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.D.), is participating in informal discussions to see if there is a way forward. He declined to shed much light on those talks on Wednesday, saying only that they had been “very productive.”
However, some senators are concerned that air travel chaos, even if it reaches the levels seen in 2019, may not be enough to end the shutdown this time.
They point to the position of the administration, which they say is in a less tolerant mood toward this step.
“I think they’re hiding too much,” one Senate Republican said. “The difference is that in the past, [it] It was, sort of, a hard ball thrown from only one angle. “This administration is ready to fight.”
“You have a bully pulpit saying this is only happening because Democrats refuse to fund the government at the levels they have voted for in the past,” the lawmaker continued. “Maybe they are incorrectly counting on this pressure to be what breaks the impasse. I don’t necessarily see that.”
However, some optimistic lawmakers still believe that if the opportunity presents itself and air travel problems rise to this level again, there will be no choice but to move toward reopening.
“One of the factors that led President Trump in 2019 to say, ‘We have to solve this,’ was the air traffic control problem. The reason we don’t have a solution now is because we have a disengaged president,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). “I hope he rethinks his ‘withdraw’ strategy because he holds the key to helping solve this problem if he wants to.”
“It wasn’t the air traffic controllers saying we’re overworked and underpaid,” Keane said. “It was the economic issue that made Trump realize, ‘Oh wait, we need strong aviation or the American economy won’t work.'” “This is really serious and he realized it six years ago. I think there’s a good chance he’ll realize it again.”