Experts warn WA's post-shutdown air travel won’t bounce back overnight

SEATAC, Wash. - With the federal government reopened, millions of travelers are asking the same question online: when will flights return to normal?

Seattle hasn’t experienced the wave of cancellations seen at major hub airports like Atlanta. But licensed pilot and aviation investigative reporter Colleen Mondor says the real concern is happening where travelers can’t see it: inside the air traffic control towers.

Mondor says many assume operations can simply snap back because the government reopened. "Everybody wants you to believe you can flip a switch," she said. "It’s just not going to happen that quickly."

Air traffic controllers, like TSA agents and other federal workers, have gone weeks without pay. Mondor says many have been forced to work second jobs just to stay afloat, including reports of some driving for ride-share companies overnight. She stresses that even with paychecks beginning again, the stress doesn’t disappear "in 24 hours."

"We’re going into Thanksgiving with people who are exhausted," she said, adding that simply saying "Here’s your paycheck" does not make the deeper issues go away.

Longstanding shortages, heavy overtime

Dig deeper:

Mondor emphasizes that the problems in air traffic control didn’t begin with the shutdown. The workforce is already stretched thin, she said, with controllers logging six-day workweeks under mandatory overtime for months.

"The issues with ATC do not exist in a vacuum," Mondor said. "They don’t happen overnight."

She notes the U.S. currently has about 11,000 air traffic controllers, far fewer than the more than 16,000 working in 1981 — despite the surge in air travel since then.

"What people need to think about when they think about flight safety is: Are we asking controllers to do too much?" asks Mondor.

Equipment fixes now severely backlogged

Local perspective:

Beyond staffing, Mondor says maintenance technicians and specialist systems workers were laid off during the shutdown.

That means radar displays, communications equipment, and other critical systems may now face a lengthy backlog of needed repairs.

"Now suddenly, those folks have a to-do list that’s probably a mile and a half long," said Mondor.

Because these workers are less visible than controllers, Mondor warns that the public may underestimate the scope of delays needed to get the national airspace system fully back on its feet.

A system tied together coast-to-coast

Big picture view:

Mondor says the nation’s airports are so interconnected that a slowdown anywhere — Chicago, for instance — can create a ripple effect that spreads nationwide.

"That’s why Seattle might not be experiencing problems now," she said, "but it will experience secondary problems because of what’s happening everywhere else."

And with Thanksgiving already the busiest travel week of the year, Mondor says the system is heading into peak demand on unsteady footing. Last year, more than 177,000 passengers traveled through Sea-Tac Airport during Thanksgiving week.

"You’re just adding another layer of stress to it," she said.

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