The airlines aren’t the only aviation entity to feel the squeeze from the government shutdown. General aviation pilots can also expect a reduction in available services triggered by a shortage in staffing.
According to an FAA emergency order issued, when an agency-owned-and operated facility does not have adequate staffing levels, air traffic control (ATC) may elect not to provide the following:
• Radar traffic information service
• Radar assistance to VFR aircraft
• Terminal radar services for VFR aircraft
• VFR traffic pattern operations
• Practice approaches to VFR aircraft
• Flight check services to restore inoperable equipment and approaches
• ATC services to parachute operations
• ATC services to certain special or unusual operations.
The FAA has published a list of airports that will see reduced traffic in the name of safety because of fewer controllers. These are major airline hubs, and for the GA community, this could lead to rerouting of traffic, so take extra care near those Victor airways.
Even if you don’t have flight following, monitor the frequency so you can hear if anyone is coming your way.
A pilot can lessen the impact on the controller by double-checking the NOTAMs so they know when there is a delay at an airport or if a facility has been closed. Pack your patience and have an “alternate” in your back pocket.
In addition, there may be delays in processing aircraft registration or aviation medical certificates.
Depending on the staffing at a Flight Standards District Office (FDSO), it might take a bit longer to receive your permanent certificate. It’s supposed to arrive within 120 days.
Before that, the DPE handed you the temporary certificate with the caveat that if you did not receive the permanent piece of plastic in the mail within 60 days, you should let them know so they could put a tracer on it, so to speak, and see where it was bogged down.
Check rides are still happening, as DPEs are independent contractors and not paid by the government. According to DPEs, the people who process the paperwork for the check rides are FSDO’s essential workers, but they may be swamped handling other, more time-critical tasks.
Potentially More Student Starts
As often happens when air travel becomes too much of a hassle through commercial carriers, people often explore the idea of becoming a pilot.
During the shutdowns of 2013 and 2018, the flight school I was working at saw an uptick in individuals who came in to earn a private pilot certificate so they could fly themselves to business meetings and not, as one so succinctly put it, “have to mess with the airlines.” In part, their reasoning was because of the time it took to go through security as so many TSA agents were calling in sick.
If the client has the initiative, desire, drive, and money, as well as the right instructor, it’s possible that we will welcome a new aviator to the fold. Some might even buy an airplane first and ask to be taught in it—seen that too.
