Staffing Shortage Forces Ground Stop At ATL Airport

ATLANTA, GA — The Atlanta airport experienced flight delays due to a staffing shortage and ground stop Saturday evening, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The agency issued the ground stop around 8:30 p.m. at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The order was lifted at about 9 p.m.; and, flights leaving Hartsfield were delayed up to more than two hours, causing passengers to be late getting to their destinations, WANF reported.

Airports nationwide, including in Texas and New York, have been faced with flight delays or cancelations due to setbacks from the current government shutdown.

Flight delays continued at U.S. airports Sunday amid air traffic controller shortages as the shutdown entered its second month.

As of Sunday evening, FlightAware said there were 4,295 delays and 557 cancelations of flights within, into or out of the U.S., not all related to controller shortages. In July, before the shutdown, about 69 percent of flights were on time and 2.5 percent were canceled.

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Hartsfield told WAGA-TV that delays on Monday were due to staffing shortages at other national airports, not in-house.

As of around 9:15 a.m. Monday, there were 41 delays and 12 cancelations at Hartsfield, according to FlightAware tracking data.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been warning that travelers will start to see more flight disruptions the longer controllers go without a paycheck.

“We work overtime to make sure the system is safe. And we will slow traffic down, you’ll see delays, we’ll have flights canceled to make sure the system is safe,” Duffy said Sunday on CBS's “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

The shutdown - caused by an impasse over health care - is currently affecting several entities, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Georgia's Head Start program.

It is unclear when Congress will reopen the government.

The Associated Press contributed reporting and writing.