So instead of ameliorating the current shortage, a shutdown could exacerbate it. “If we don’t have enough staff, we could face a shortage, and that could lead to cancellations and delays,” Buttigieg says. “So this affects not just controllers but really the entire traveling public.”
Efforts to improve old technology across air travel systems will languish
The FAA’s work to modernize archaic technology that has caused major flight delays in the past will be halted in the event of a government shutdown. For instance, work to improve the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) communication system that failed in January—and caused a nationwide ground-stop and flight scheduling chaos for the next 24 hours—would have to stop.
“That outage, even though it only lasted about an hour and a half in terms of the ground-stop, was enough to throw the system into havoc all day,” says Buttigieg. “The work we’re doing to modernize that system would be halted.”
There are also numerous airport improvement projects around the country that would need to be paused, and travelers could feel the effects at the holidays and beyond. “Dallas Love Field—we’re working on a new instrument landing system there. That was supposed to be ready for the busy Thanksgiving Day weekend travel, and that can no longer be guaranteed if we’re stopped in that progress,” Buttigieg says.
Consumer improvements will face setbacks
In recent months the department has been passing new regulations to help protect the consumer rights of passengers, like parents being able to sit next to their kids for free and travelers receiving compensation from airlines for extreme delays that are their fault.
During a shutdown, those operations would be halted. “We want to continue that work, but that rule-making work is not considered an exempt function, which means that the people who are doing it would be furloughed.” To establish each new regulation is a lengthy process, with different steps and approvals needed along the way. Losing time on it could mean weeks or months-long delays in passing new protections. “These are things where we would be blocked during the whole course of a shutdown, and then set back for a while making up for lost time,” says Buttigieg.
But it’s not just the government shutdown that could affect air travel. The FAA is also about to lose its authorization from Congress, something that hasn’t happened since 2011, according to The Washington Post. “The FAA works on a five-year authorization, and we’re at the very end of the five years, which means that Congress not just needs to fund the government in general, they need to renew the FAA,” explains Buttigieg.
If the agency is not reauthorized by Congress it could, among other issues, lose the ability to collect taxes on airline tickets and fuel, costing it up to $50 million a day. “If they don’t do that by Saturday, the FAA’s funding will lapse,” Buttigieg says. “That causes problems over and above the shutdown. It’s a double whammy.”
