Incoming Flights to LaGuardia Airport in New York Halted Amid Shutdown

The FAA cited staff shortages for the extraordinary move.

Frank Franklin II/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Update (1/25/2019, 11:25 a.m. ET): Ground stops have been lifted but significant delays remain, the FAA said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has stopped flights into LaGuardia Airport in New York City due to major staff shortages amid the partial government shutdown.

The startling announcement came after unions representing aviation workers released a statement Wednesday warning that the shutdown could pose serious safety risks for its members and travelers. “In our risk-averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,” the statement read.

This is a breaking news post. We will update as more information becomes available.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate