Nashville Airport Air Traffic Control Tower Goes Dark As US Govt Shutdown Continues

As the US government shutdown continued on the seventh day, Nashville International Airport’s air traffic control tower on Tuesday became the second tower to go dark amid staff shortages.

According to CNN, the tower at the beloved Tennessee hub will shutter at 7pm until midnight. The pilots wanting to fly into the Nashville airport have been told to contact the regional air traffic control centre in Memphis to get clearance before entering the airspace.

On Monday, the control tower at California’s Hollywood Airport was forced to shut down for several hours due to a lock of air traffic controllers.

The shutdown that began on October 1 has left scores of unpaid air traffic controllers and airport staffers calling out sick – crippling more than a dozen

major travel hubs from New Jersey and Chicago to Texas and California, New York Post quoted the Federal Aviation Administration and flight data.

According to FlightAware, 2,152 flights were delayed in the country – including domestic and international arrivals and departures – and 58 were cancelled as of Tuesday afternoon.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there has been an increase in sick calls since the shutdown and warned that the shutdown will put a strain on air traffic controllers.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to take an unexpected turn towards Democrats, saying he is “happy to work” with them on healthcare. The development came after the Senate on Monday again failed to pass two bills to fund the US government.

The shutdown began a week ago after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a spending bill, with disputes over healthcare funding and federal workforce cuts at the centre of the impasse.

The President’s comments came as the Senate took another doomed pair of votes on Monday on funding the federal government. Neither the Republican measure nor the Democratic proposal came close to gaining the 60 votes needed to advance.