The Daily Populous Tuesday October 7th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by abc7.com and submitted by DragonPup

Burbank Airport air traffic control tower goes unmanned for hours amid government shutdown

There were frustrating delays and cancellations on Monday evening at Burbank Airport as the government shutdown triggered a shortage of air traffic controllers.

BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) -- There were frustrating delays and cancellations on Monday evening at Hollywood Burbank Airport and other U.S. airports as the government shutdown triggered a shortage of air traffic controllers.

From 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday, there were no air traffic controllers in the Burbank tower, and operations were instead run remotely by Southern California TRACON, an approach and departure team out of San Diego.

Southern California TRACON already remotely handles a lot of the air traffic in SoCal.

Normally, you wouldn't see much activity at Burbank Airport at night due to a voluntary curfew starting at 10 p.m. But at 11 p.m. on Monday, planes were still taking off at the airport due to delays and cancellations.

"You'd like to have somebody local that can see what's going on, visually, right?" said Kimberly Riddle from Tracy, California.

"It's a little scary, right? I'm about to run it myself," said influencer Salice Rose.

Air traffic controllers are government employees and are considered essential, so they have to keep working, but are doing so without pay. Because of that, there's a shortage as many of the 11,00 air traffic controllers nationwide are calling in sick.

"We are tracking sick calls, sick leave. Have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes. And then you'll see delays that come from that, right? Because again, our priority, again, I want to see your flight not be delayed. I don't want you canceled, but our priorities are safety. So if we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that's safe for the American people," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said earlier Monday.

There were numerous delays and cancellations at Burbank Airport on Monday due to the staffing issues.

Eyewitness News spoke to travelers dealing with two-hour and three-hour delays.

According to an FAA advisory, there were multiple staffing triggers in place on Monday, including delays at airports in Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis and Phoenix.

"See, if mine gets deleted one more time, I might just head back home. I can't. I'm not going to sit here and wait. I'm not. I'm not doing it," Rose said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is placing the blame squarely on President Donald Trump, responding to an Eyewitness News tweet with, "Thanks, @realDonaldTrump! Burbank Airport has ZERO air traffic controllers from 4:15pm to 10pm today because of YOUR government shutdown."

Blame is a tricky thing in a situation like this. The reality is, it's the Democrats who are voting no to reopening the government as they try to reverse cuts to health care made by Republicans. On Monday, Trump said he is negotiating.

"We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things, and I'm talking about good things with regard to health care," Trump said.

But Democrats say that's not true.

The White House has gone radio silent since the Oval Office meeting last Monday, and neither Leader Schumer or myself have heard a word from the administration," House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said.

What the White House is saying is the accusation that this is about health care for the undocumented.

"The sad truth, we believe, is that the Democrats intentionally shut down the government and are inflicting this pain on American citizens to try and demand free health care for illegal aliens," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Delays with air travel were anticipated due to the government shutdown, which entered its sixth day on Monday.

As more time passes for the air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees since their last paycheck, travelers could start to see longer lines at security and flight interruptions, said Jeffrey Price, professor of aviation at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.

"The system does become a little bit more brittle, and the longer this goes, the more the traveler is going to notice it," Price said.

That's what happened in 2018 and 2019, when Trump led the country into its longest shutdown ever for 35 days during his first term.

About three weeks into that shutdown, some unpaid security screeners started calling in sick, and air traffic controllers sued the government in a bid to get their paychecks. Miami International Airport had to temporarily close one of its terminals because TSA officers were calling in sick at twice the airport's usual rate.

The latest shutdown is unfolding at a time when both the TSA and the Federal Aviation Administration are already facing staffing shortages, including a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers.

If the system can't handle the number of flights that are scheduled, the FAA will slow down landings and take offs and passengers will see more delays and cancellations.

Air traffic controllers will receive one more paycheck, which is essentially half of a paycheck since the shutdown began in the middle of a pay period. They will get the pay for what they worked before the shutdown next Tuesday. They will eventually be paid again once the shutdown ends.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NYCinPGH on October 7th, 2025 at 02:42 UTC »

This is the start.

I read a post by Robert Reich the other day saying that the singular thing that ended the previous 2 federal shutdowns weren't compromise, or political pressure, but the ATCs calling in sick, all over the country. No ATCs means that Congress can't fly home to their districts, CEOs and celebrities can't take their corporate / private jets, businesses are screwed because they can't send personnel to meetings and conferences, not to mention all the family vacations.

Reich gave it 1, 2 at the absolute max, missed paychecks for the ATCs before they end this. Reagan figured out how important the ATCs were, but they're smart enough to now get around what he did back then.

Moneyshot_ITF on October 7th, 2025 at 02:21 UTC »

Air traffic controllers are what ends government shutdowns

Professional_Clue66 on October 7th, 2025 at 02:11 UTC »

"You have to get everybody in a room. You have to be a leader. The president has to lead. He has to get (the Speaker of the House) and everybody else in a room, and they have to make a deal."

"Unfortunately, he has never been a dealmaker. That wasn't his expertise before he went into politics and it's obviously not his expertise now. But you have to get the people in a room and you have to get a deal."

https://www.reddit.com/r/CringeTikToks/s/D8w2X71WdZ

Trump blames shutdowns on "weak" presidents