The FAA says it has brought about 500 furloughed safety inspectors back to work and expects more to return next week, potentially easing strains on the aviation system amid a partial federal government shutdown. Most of the FAA's 3,000 safety inspectors have been sidelined during the 22-day shutdown . But the agency is accelerating efforts to bring them back. Inspectors oversee and certify inspections by airline and repair-shop employees. They're not considered essential employees who must work during shutdowns. The shutdown has hit aviation hard. About 10,000 FAA air traffic controllers are on the job but not getting paid. Some TSA screeners are staying home rather than work without pay.<br/>
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The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) on Jan. 11 filed suit against the US government, alleging its members are being unlawfully deprived of wages because of the partial government shutdown that began three weeks ago. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, also alleges violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act for the government’s failure to pay at least the minimum wage to controllers and other NATCA members who are working without pay. The union has requested an expedited hearing on its motion for a temporary restraining order against the government. Controllers, traffic management coordinators and other “excepted” FAA employees remain working, despite receiving first paychecks containing no money since the shutdown started on Dec. 22, 2018. Another 3,000 employees NATCA represents are sidelined at home on furlough. The lapse in federal funding also has caused the FAA to suspend training at its air traffic control academy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.<br/>
Miami International Airport is closing a terminal this weekend because security screeners have been calling in sick at twice the airport's normal rate as the federal government shutdown stretches toward a fourth week. Friday marks the first day screeners will miss a paycheck, and airport spokesman Greg Chin said there's a concern there won't be enough workers to handle all 11 checkpoints during normal hours over the weekend. Chin said Terminal G will close at 1 p.m. Saturday, reopen for flights Sunday morning and close again at 1 p.m. that day. The terminal serves United along with smaller carriers. Its closure means restaurants and shops that depend on departing flights also will close. "We felt we had to make a decision before the weekend," Chin said. "They're erring on the side of caution." Chin said that some passengers have complained about longer waits, but there've been no abnormal security delays.<br/>
A winter snowstorm blamed for the deaths of at least seven people in road accidents across the US Midwest rolled into the mid-Atlantic states Sunday, forcing a ground stop at Dulles International Airport and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Millions of Americans in 10 states and Washington, D.C., were under winter storm warnings as the weather system, which started as rain in Mexico was forecast to hit an 1,800-mile (2,900-km) swath of the United States from Colorado to the East Coast. A total of 1,624 flights were canceled in and out of US airports on Sunday, the bulk of them at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport and Dulles. A further 3,113 departures were delayed. “The FAA has implemented a ground stop at Dulles due to the weather, which is impacting both inbound and outbound flights,” Dulles airport said on Twitter. “Your airline will have the most up to date information on any flight impacts. Thank you for your patience!” Several major airlines waived fees for changing or rebooking flights.<br/>
German trade union Verdi has called on security staff at Munich airport to go on strike Tuesday in tandem with a strike planned at Frankfurt airport. The trade union is calling on 350 employees to stop working from 0330 local time until 2000, which is likely to cause major delays at Germany’s second-biggest airport, a Verdi representative told Bavarian radio on Sunday. Verdi, which is in wage negotiations on behalf of 23,000 security workers in Germany, has called the strikes to put pressure on companies in charge of screening passengers and luggage. Wage talks are due to resume on Jan. 23. Fraport, operator of Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest hub, said it expects severe disruption on Tuesday.<br/>
Indonesian airlines reduced air fares for some local routes by as much as 60% starting last week in response to a backlash over a surge in ticket prices during the peak holiday season. Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air and AirAsia Indonesia are among the carriers which cut prices from Jan. 11, the Indonesian National Air Carrier Association said Sunday. Ticket prices on the Jakarta-Denpasar, Jakarta-Yogyakarta and Jakarta-Surabaya routes were slashed between 20 and 60%, said I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra, chairman of the association. The airlines are planning to drop fares for more routes following a commitment by state-owned airport operators, air navigation agency and PT Pertamina, which supplies jet fuel, to lower logistics and navigation costs, the association said. The price cuts may make air travel affordable to more Indonesians and contribute to the nation’s economic and infrastructure growth, it said.<br/>
Melbourne Airport was in chaos Monday morning after a fire alarm grounded planes and forced its traffic control centre to be evacuated. Flights were suspended from departing and landing for an hour from about 9am. An airport spokesman said more than 50 flights were affected with flow-on delays and cancellations expected to plague the airport throughout the day and into the evening. However, he said most of the backlog had cleared by midday. "The schedule is looking good," he said. "There will be knock-on affects throughout the day. We would hope it would have resolved itself by the end of the day."<br/>