Airports get back on track as government shutdown ends

It was business as usual at Newark Liberty International Airport Saturday following the end of the partial government shutdown.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the New Jersey airport experienced about 15 minutes of average delays for arriving and departing flights.

That was not the case on Friday, when staffing issues caused heavy delays in both New York and New Jersey airports. The FAA said that the shortage of staff came as air traffic controllers and thousands of other federal workers entered their 35th day of working without pay due to the shutdown.

Extra TSA agents had to be brought in at the Newark airport Friday to balance the number of people calling out.

The FAA had said in a statement, “We have experienced a slight increase in sick leave at two facilities. We’ve mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic.”

TSA agents will receive back pay now that the shutdown is over, but that could take about a week, meaning they will go a total of three weeks without a paycheck.

Volunteers are still helping those agents who have yet to be paid.

In Newark, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church’s Rapid Relief team paid for lunch for about 400 TSA workers. The church says it’s about lending a helping hand to people temporarily in need.

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