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The airport control tower at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California remained unmanned for nearly five full hours on Monday (October 6) due to a staff shortage caused by the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, according to ABC Los Angeles.
The airport's operations were instead run remotely by Southern California TRACON, which already remotely handles a lot of the Southern California air traffic, amid the lack of air traffic controllers in the tower. Hollywood Burbank Airport experienced significant cancellations and delays, having continued flights at around 11:00 p.m. local time, one hour later than its typical voluntary curfew of 10:00 p.m.
"You'd like to have somebody local that can see what's going on, visually, right?" said Kimberly Riddle of Tracy, California, via ABC Los Angeles.
"It's a little scary, right? I'm about to run it myself," said influencer Salice Rose.
Air traffic controllers are considered to be essential workers, which means they're required to keep working, despite doing so without pay, during the U.S. government shutdown, leading to many to call in sick nationwide resulting in a shortage.
"We are tracking sick calls, sick leave. Have we had a slight tick up in sick calls? Yes. And then you'll see delays that come from that, right? Because again, our priority, again, I want to see your flight not be delayed. I don't want you canceled, but our priorities are safety. So if we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that's safe for the American people," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy earlier on Monday.
Federal employees will go without pay for the entirety of the shutdown, with an estimated 750,000 furloughed each day, the Congressional Budget Office said via NBC News. The furloughed payments will be paid once the government reopens, however, compensation will reportedly cost taxpayers an estimated $400 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office.