Nashville Int. Airport Tower Goes Dark for Hours Overnight, Bringing Extensive Delays

Nashville International Airport (BNA), surrounded by one of the busiest Class C airspaces in the nation, became the latest victim of the ongoing government shutdown on October 7. Its control tower was empty for several hours, leaving extensive departure delays and concern for the stability of commercial aviation in its wake.

According to the FAA, the Nashville tower closed at around 5 pm on October 7 and remained unstaffed until early the next morning, only resuming “normal staffing levels” at about 6:40 am the next day. During the outage, departing flights faced average delays of roughly two hours, and dozens were grounded entirely.

The closure followed a similar shutdown at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California, where no controllers were on duty for six hours. That incident prompted state officials to publicly criticize Washington for allowing the shutdown to drag on.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that widespread staffing shortages have hit several major hubs, including Chicago O’Hare, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Newark Liberty, Boston Logan, and Las Vegas. By October 7, more than 3,400 flights had been delayed across the country, and nearly 70 were outright canceled. Flight data showed over 6,100 delays just the day before.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the situation is worsening as unpaid controllers continue to call out sick. Despite air traffic controllers being classified as essential personnel, requiring them to report for duty even without pay, many have been unable or just unwilling to continue working. Duffy added that flow rates would be reduced to match available staffing.

The airport seemed to share this disappointment, commenting that “the FAA attributes the ‘staffing shortages,’ as reported by the media, to ‘unexpected call outs.’ These unexpected call outs delayed 263 flights, negatively impacting approximately 39,450 passengers.”

Even before the shutdown began on October 1, the FAA was short roughly 3,000 controllers nationwide. If the standoff in Washington continues, more towers are likely to follow Nashville’s lead.

FMI: www.flynashville.com