Nick Daniels

During the last government shutdown six years ago, the FAA's training academy in Oklahoma City was forced to close.

That had a lasting impact, adding to the shortage of air traffic controllers.

This time, the FAA made sure to keep the academy open, with funding extended through at least the end of November.

That's according to Nick Daniels, the president of the union that represents air traffic controllers.

He says air traffic control trainees are still getting paid for now.

Those trainees are joining more than 13,000 controllers who are required to work without pay until the shutdown ends.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.

What they're working under is one of the lowest morale times in history.

They're going to work.

They know they're short-staffed already.

The pressure that's on top of them, they work with unreliable equipment.

And all those things add up to the stress and complexity of one of the most high-consequence jobs in the entire world.

The Federal Aviation Administration says staffing shortages have caused delays at a growing list of airports, including Nashville, Chicago O'Hare, Newark, Houston, and Dallas.

Nearly 11,000 certified air traffic controllers are required to work during the government shutdown, but don't get paid until it ends.

The head of the union that represents those controllers, Nick Daniels, told NPR's Morning Edition that the shutdown is making a difficult situation worse.

Daniel says the U.S.

was already thousands of air traffic controllers short before the government shutdown.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.