US: Air safety still lags after US shutdown, controllers’ union says

The aviation system’s safety still hasn’t fully recovered from the 35-day US government shutdown that halted progress on new technology and stopped reviews of incident reports, the air-traffic controllers’ union president told Congress. US aviation was “on the verge of unravelling” when the partial shutdown ended Jan. 25. Flights were delayed into New York’s LaGuardia Airport as controllers didn’t report to work due to illness and fatigue, said Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The shutdown cut off funding to more than a dozen departments and agencies. To prevent another shutdown, lawmakers must pass a compromise measure to renew long-term funding by Friday. Wednesday’s hearing before the House aviation subcommittee delved into the impact of the shutdown on air safety in the US. Installation of a new radar system designed to warn controllers when aircraft aren’t lined up to land on the proper runway was one of the programs that was temporarily halted, Rinaldi told the House aviation subcommittee on Wednesday. The new system is working at some airports, but its installation at others was halted when the FAA furloughed more than one-third of its workers as part of the shutdown. <br/>