NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The recent government shutdown has severely impacted air travel, with flight delays becoming a daily reality for passengers.
While the shutdown forced air traffic controllers to work without pay, leading many to call out sick, aviation experts warn that reopening the federal government may not immediately solve the underlying staffing crisis.
Robert Fowler is an aerospace professor at Middle Tennessee State University. We asked Professor Fowler if ending the federal government shutdown would bring relief to frustrated travelers.
"The shortage is a long-term problem," Fowler said. "Hopefully they get retroactive pay. If they do, I believe the acute problems will probably resolve by themselves but we'll still be faced with a long-term issue of an air traffic shortage."
The Nashville airport tower has struggled with staffing shortages long before the shutdown.
Fowler traces the root of the problem back to 1981, when President Reagan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers during a labor dispute. "So they had to staff up in a relatively short time," Fowler said.
According to Fowler, the industry never fully recovered from that mass firing. Now, many of the replacement controllers hired in the 1980s are reaching retirement age simultaneously.
"All of them at the same time, pretty much the same age, so we're looking at retirements," Fowler said.
While the federal government is actively trying to hire more air traffic controllers, the training process creates additional delays. New controllers require extensive certification before they can handle all types of air traffic.
"It takes another 3 years for an air traffic controller to be certified to handle all forms of traffic. So it takes a while," Fowler said.
This means passengers should prepare for continued delays even after normal government operations resume. "It'll take a few years," Fowler said.
The staffing shortage at Nashville's airport tower illustrates the severity of the crisis. The facility typically aims to have 15 controllers per shift but has operated with only 10 in recent years. During the government shutdown, some shifts had as few as five controllers working.
A few weeks ago, we interviewed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy about the controller shortages, specific to Nashville. You can listen to how he responded to our questions here. We also spoke to a former Nashville air traffic controller about the need to restrict flights during times of staffing shortages.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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