Donald Trump is set to make an announcement regarding the government shutdown, as “staffing issues” have disrupted flights in several US airports.
Flights at LaGuardia airport in New York are being severely disrupted due to “staffing issues”.
The US FAA says there are also departure delays at Philadelphia and Newark.
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Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or, as with some airport workers, required to work without pay. Some federal agencies have reported much higher absence rates among workers as they face an indefinite wait for their next paychecks. (Reuters)
CBS News reported Mr Trump was expected to endorse a stop-gap funding bill that would offer time to continue to debate his demand for border wall funds, while assuring federal workers get their pay.
The White House declined to comment on the reports but it was making arrangement for the president to speak in the Rose Garden.
Mr Trump has insisted on $5.7bn to fund a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico but Democrats, who now control the House of Representatives, have rejected his demand.
(Reuters)
The Democrat says the delays are hurting the economy and impacting airport safety and security. His comments came at an unrelated event in Manhattan Friday morning.
"Now, true, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest, but the idea that it's paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea," said Ross, whose financial disclosure forms reveal $700 million in assets.
(AP)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross set off howls when he was asked on CNBC on Thursday about reports that some of the 800,000 workers currently not receiving paychecks were going to homeless shelters to get food.
"Well, I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why," he said. "The obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union, are, in effect, federally guaranteed. So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out ... there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it."
Controllers and airport screeners are not being paid during the ongoing government shutdown that has reached 35 days.
On Thursday, three major US airlines – American Airlines Group Inc, Southwest Airlines Co and JetBlue Airways Corp – said the impact of the shutdown on their business had so far been limited but was nearing a tipping point.
"No one can predict what impact it will have as it continues," Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly said of the shutdown on Thursday.
(Reuters)
The Federal Aviation Authority briefly issued a ground stop for arriving flights at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Friday morning as the government dealt with staffing shortages at two air traffic control facilities in New York and Florida.
The FAA issued a notice that it was halting flights into LaGuardia due to staffing issues, but lifted it around 10:45 a.m. The FAA said it was instituting a program to manage traffic that would result in significant delays for arriving flights of nearly 90 minutes.
"We've mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft as needed," the FAA said. "The results have been minimal impacts to efficiency while maintaining consistent levels of safety in the national airspace system."
(Reuters)
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders didn't offer much clarity.
"I'm not going to negotiate in the press, but we've laid out a proposal of not what we want, but what the people and the professionals at the border say that they need to do their jobs," Sander said. "And that's what the president wants to see happen. And we are going to work to get there one way or another."
But the idea has not been endorsed by Trump, who says any short-term deal must include a large down-payment for a border wall — an idea House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have rejected.
FAA spokesman Gregory Martin said Friday that it had augmented staffing, rerouted traffic and increased spacing between planes as needed.
The staffing problems were at air traffic centers in Jacksonville, Florida and a Washington, DC. center that controls high-altitude air traffic over seven states.
Martin says safety is being maintained during a period of "minimal impacts" on travel.
LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were both experiencing delays in takeoffs.
(AP)
The Democrat wrote to Republican President Donald Trump on Friday demanding that he reopen government immediately. He said the partial shutdown is reducing staffing for Transportation Security Administration workers as well as air traffic controllers. He noted an increase in the number of TSA workers calling in absent, and said many air traffic controllers are working extra shifts without pay.
Cuomo's letter was announced shortly before the FAA announced LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were both experiencing delays in takeoffs due to staffing problems at two East Coast air traffic control facilities.
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