Government shutdown strains DIA operations and staffing

By  Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette

The shutdown of the federal government has begun to palpably affect the country’s airports, including at Denver International Airport, which is seeing staffing shortages, according to officials.

By Monday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration was reporting that staffing shortages were creating delays at DIA, as well as airports in California and New Jersey.

Denver International Airport officials anticipate that more than 938,000 passengers will travel through airport checkpoints between Oct. 9 and Oct. 20, a 5.5% increase over the same time period in 2024.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, continue to disagree on funding the federal government, forcing air traffic controllers and other essential federal employees to work without pay.

More than 13,000 air traffic controllers are expected to continue working during the shutdown, according to U.S. Department of Transportation documents, and they are set to miss their first paycheck on Oct. 14.

In the meantime, some air traffic controllers have been calling in sick.

At a news conference on Monday in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the FAA is already seeing “a slight uptick” in controllers calling out sick since the federal shutdown began on Oct. 1.

READ THE COMPLETE STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE