Federal shutdown continues to add to stress on air traffic controllers, disrupts flights

The ongoing government shutdown continues to disrupt flights at times and put pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay.

Flights were delayed Thursday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, New Jersey’s Newark airport and Washington’s Reagan National Airport because of air traffic controller shortages. The number of flight delays for any reason nationwide spiked to 6,158 Thursday after hovering around 4,000 a day earlier in the week, according to FlightAware.com. On Friday afternoon, the Houston airport was also reporting average delays of about half an hour because of staffing issues, and the Federal Aviation Administration warned that problems were possible at airports in the New York area, Dallas and Phoenix.

Many Federal Aviation Administration facilities are so criti