President Trump Temporarily Ends Shutdown After Widespread Flight Delays
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
US President Donald Trump said in a speech Friday afternoon that he would sign a bill to reopen the federal government for three weeks until Feb. 15.
The announcement follows widespread flight delays due to lack of air traffic controllers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and other airports on the East Coast. The Federal Aviation Administration said that due to an uptick in sick callouts by air traffic controllers — who are unpaid during the shutdown — the organization had to take steps to slow air traffic across the US.
The short-staffing had initially caused a ground stop on Friday, meaning no flights into or out of LaGuardia Airport were taking off. Flights were being held at their airport of origin to mitigate traffic. The ground stop was cancelled later in the morning, as the FAA began metering traffic, or delaying the pace of takeoffs and landings.
According to tracking site Flight Aware, at least 267 flights out of LGA were delayed by Friday afternoon, about 44% of its total flights that day, with passengers at some points waiting longer than an hour on the plane to take off. In-bound flight delays were even lengthier, with flights delayed at their airport of origin an average of 1 hour 26 minutes, and arrival delays for airborne aircraft averaging 1 hour 6 minutes.
There were also delays Friday morning at other East Coast airports, including Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL) and Washington DC (DCA), averaging about a half hour to 45 minutes.
White House officials say that the widespread air traffic control delays played an important role in President Trump’s decision to at least temporarily reopen the government. “Planes have to keep flying. This is getting worse and worse,” the White House official told CNN. “He knows this has to end.”
In his speech Friday in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump thanked federal workers who had gone unpaid during the shutdown, calling them “fantastic people” and “incredible patriots.” He also promised that they would get their back pay “as soon as possible.” Air traffic controllers and TSA screeners were among the 800,000 federal employees who missed two paychecks during the shutdown. Both groups said the shutdown interfered with their abilities to do their jobs.
“Many controllers have reached the breaking point of exhaustion, stress, and worry caused by this shutdown,” the union president of the National Air Traffic Control Association, Paul Rinaldi, said in a statement earlier on Friday. “Each hour that goes by that the shutdown continues makes the situation worse.”
President Trump said he was prepared to shut down the government again if Congress does not fund his border wall come Feb. 15.
“If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15, again,” Trump said, “or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.”
For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter here: https://thepointsguy.com/mailing-list//
Featured image by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP/Getty Images.
Sign-up Successful!
Welcome to The Points Guy!
Earn 90,000 bonus miles and 10,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card in the first three months of card membership. Offer ends 11/10/2021.
With Status Boost™, earn 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, up to two times per year getting you closer to Medallion Status. Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels, 2X Miles at restaurants and at U.S. supermarkets and earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases. Terms Apply.
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles and 10,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months. Offer expires 11/10/2021.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. *Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $75 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®.
- Enjoy an exclusive rate of $39 per person per visit to enter the Delta Sky Club® for you and up to two guests when traveling on a Delta flight.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.