Government shutdown grounds dozens of LGA departures
The federal government’s partial shutdown complicated travel plans for thousands of airline passengers Friday morning as staff shortages at three air traffic control centers forced the Federal Aviation Administration to delay, divert or cancel dozens of departing flights at LaGuardia and Newark airports.
“No one could make up the situation that we’re in. And it gets worse every day,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Today they issue a ground stop — they halt flights leaving LaGuardia Airport. Why do they do that? Because due to the federal shutdown, there are too few staff at the FAA in Washington to adequately control air traffic and they have to reduce flights.”
FAA spokesman Gregory Martin said the problems would have “minimal impacts” on travel.