By Pete Muntean, Aaron Cooper, Rebekah Riess

Washington (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration is again reporting short staffing at air traffic control operations as the government shutdown enters its eighth day.

On Wednesday morning, the facility that handles flights approaching and departing Newark Liberty International Airport was short-staffed for two hours, starting at 7 a.m. local time.

It is the only facility to report a so-called “staffing trigger” for the morning shift, according to a publicly available FAA operations plan.

The cause of the staffing problem was not immediately known, but the Department of Transportation reported an increase in sick calls by air traffic controllers since the start of the shutdown.

Short staffing does not always mean delays. There are a variety of things the FAA can do to manage airspace, including rerouting en route flights, though sometimes delays are needed to ensure planes can operate safely.

The Philadelphia-based facility that handles flights approaching Newark, saw staffing problems and subsequent delays earlier this year after radar and communication outages led to at least five controllers taking 45 days of trauma leave.

Weather is also expected to impact flights in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Fort Lauderdale Wednesday.

Controllers not being paid during shutdown

Controllers are considered essential government employees and required to work during the shutdown, but are not currently being paid. Organized work actions, like strikes or sick-outs, are illegal.

For decades, there has been a shortage of air traffic controllers in the United States and many are working mandatory overtime, so a small number of people taking unscheduled time off can have a major impact.

In 2019, 10 controllers called out sick, snarling air traffic, leading to an end to that shutdown. Their actions, along with staffing issues already brewing at the Transportation Security Administration, helped tip the scales in Washington, driving President Donald Trump to agree to a three-week agreement.

The union, which represents controllers, said the problems during the current shutdown illustrate how short-staffed and fragile the air traffic control system is.

“Air traffic controllers are going to do everything they can to show up to duty, save people’s lives, and do the job that we do day in and day out,” National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels told CNN. “Air traffic controllers don’t start a shutdown and we don’t end a shutdown. Politicians are the ones that start the shutdown, and they’re the only ones that have the ability to end the shutdown.”

The next paycheck for controllers is scheduled for Tuesday, but that will only include payment for hours worked before the shutdown.

At Baltimore/Washington International Airport, on Wednesday morning, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore thanked the workers who have stayed on the job.

“Our BWI workers are still here. They’re on the job, but unfortunately, because of this situation, the majority of them are, right now, are working without pay,” the governor said. “They’re doing it because they’re patriots. They’re doing it because they know that this work matters.”

Maryland Congressman Kweisi Mfume joined the governor and advocated for creating an emergency supplemental appropriation, “separate and apart from everything else,” to ensure pay for air traffic controllers. “And yes, they are essential. And yes, we have an obligation to make sure that the skies are safe. People are beginning now to worry about flying, and we should never, as a nation, get to that point,” Mfume said.

“If you’re feeling the impact of the shutdown, you can thank the radical Democrats,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X in response to the Maryland governor’s news conference Wednesday. “Stop the madness and end the shutdown.”

Week starts with short staffing and delays

Tuesday night, the approach facility in Nashville, which guides planes into and out of the airport, had to shut down for five hours, according to a notice to pilots. Flights heading to the airport had to contact a regional air traffic control center in Memphis to enter the airspace. Ground delays for flights headed to Nashville were expected to average two hours Tuesday night.

The tower at Chicago O’Hare, along with FAA facilities in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Boston, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Newark Philadelphia all saw staffing shortages Tuesday.

Monday, at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California, the entire tower was forced to shut down when no controllers showed up to work. Flights used a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency, known as CTAF, to announce intentions and positions of their aircraft. It’s a way for pilots to communicate when no tower is present, but it is most commonly used at much smaller airports. More than two hours of delays were reported at the time.

CNN’s Brandon Miller contributed to this report.

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