Airports are starting to show the strain of the partial shutdown of the US government, which has now eclipsed the three-week mark to become the longest in history. The situation is creating headaches of its own, and to make matters worse, winter storm Gia is slamming the Midwest, freezing the travel plans of many passengers.

An unusually high number of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have been calling in sick since their pay stopped. TSA screeners who staff security checkpoints are among the “essential” federal employees who are supposed to keep working. (They get paid retroactively, after the shutdown is resolved.) The TSA said that 5.1% of its 51,000 workers didn’t go into work Jan. 10, compared to 3.3% the same time last year. The number ticked up to 5.6% for Friday and yesterday (Jan 12).

The understaffed security checkpoints have been resulting in extra long lines for passengers. Miami International Airport, which has seen double the number of usual callouts by TSA screeners, decided to close one of its concourses for part of the day over the weekend and tomorrow, the Associated Press reported, to ensure that it has enough screeners on hand.

The AP also noted that airline-industry officials worry TSA screeners are especially likely to call out since they earn relatively low wages, typically between $26,000 and $35,000 a year. They can struggle to pay bills without their regular salaries and some airports have taken measures to help TSA workers get by, such as opening food pantries or organizing events to help them get short-term loans.

Other parts of the air-travel system still working as normal may start to reflect strains. Air-traffic controllers are also essential employees and so far enough have been going in to keep things running normally. But the president of the air-traffic controllers union told the AP that there is already a shortage of controllers, and that some 1,900 are eligible to retire. If many started to take that option, the government might have to limit air traffic, leading to more delays.

Meanwhile, roughly 3,300 safety inspectors under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have not been working, as they’re not deemed essential. These are regulatory workers who certify the inspections done by the airlines and companies that repair aircraft. The FAA has recalled a small number of inspectors to work and has sought to reassure travelers that their safety is not being compromised.

To date the most visible signs of the partial government shutdown have been things like trash piling up at the country’s national parks, or on the National Mall in Washington DC. For many Americans, it could soon become long lines and extended delays at the airport.

The federal government said late Tuesday that it has identified funding to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Food Program, which provides food assistance to about 1.2 million low-income people each month in Michigan, operating through February.

That’s good news, but operating dollars for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program — which provides monthly boxes of food for tens of thousands of senior citizens in the region — run out after this week. The government will continue to provide food for the senior meal program through February, but that won’t cover administrative costs.

Thanks to a large warehouse on its Detroit campus, Focus: Hope has about two months of food stored for the 44,000 seniors it provides with a box of food each month.

That store can sustain the senior food program into mid-March, Focus: Hope President and CEO Portia Roberson said, and the nonprofit, which operates on a $32 million annual budget, has some general fund dollars to cover the $230,000 it takes to operate the program each month.

“Obviously, that could not go on for a year. … the hope is we won’t have to go for an extended period of time,” Roberson said.

A more immediate concern: Federal employees who aren’t being paid during the shutdown are likely to need food assistance. Gleaner’s Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan is coordinating with United Way for Southeastern Michigan and 10 area pantries and food distribution sites to ensure those who need food while they wait for their next paycheck can get it.

There are an estimated 5,000-6,000 federal employees in the state, with the bulk of them in Southeast Michigan, according to reported estimates.

Those employees work for federal departments including the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gleaners President and CEO Gerry Brisson said.

This is the first week federal workers will miss a paycheck, but most people live paycheck to paycheck, “so we can’t have no response now,” Brisson said.

Gleaners has begun packing 1,000 food boxes with staples such as spaghetti and spaghetti sauce to get federal employees over the hump, he said. The boxes will be available starting Monday at 10 pantries/food distribution sites in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties.

Most people can make it for a week without a paycheck, he said, so “we think 1,000 boxes will be more than enough to get through the first wave,” with distribution expanded as needed.

The first wave of boxes will cost Gleaners $23,000.

“We have operating cash for emergencies, about 60 days of operating cash in the bank just for this kind of thing,” Brisson said.

“But there’s no question if the emergency lasts a long time, we’re going to have to go out and ask people to help us.”

United Way has agreed to serve as a referral point, directing federal employees who call its 211 health and human services hotline to the nearest pantry for a food box.

United Way’s 211 staff is prepared to offer that support, said Eric Davis, vice president of basic needs, health and outreach.

“The next couple of weeks I think we should be OK. But if it goes much larger than that, we’re going to have some serious problems … once the benefits start to diminish,” Davis said.

Child nutrition programs such as Women, Infants and Children, and other food assistance programs will also see funding into February and March.

“SNAP is the biggest concern. It is the biggest federal food program. All of the other food programs combined don’t do as much as SNAP,” Brisson said. In Michigan, the program has more recipients than any other entitlement program offered, outside of Medicaid.

Beyond food assistance programs, federal housing and rental subsidies are being jeopardized by the shutdown, “putting people at risk of losing their place to live at the coldest time of the year,” Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy, said in an emailed statement.

— Sherri Welch

Bell Helicopter unveiled their design for a full-scale air taxi, the Bell Nexus, at CES 2019, bringing us one step closer to the future of flying cars that humans have been looking forward to for almost 100 years.

Bypassing Traffic Congestion Altogether

The problem of urban traffic congestion is an old one and CES 2019 is full of companies trying to solve it. From shuttles to smart cities, the future of mobility is one of the biggest themes of CES 2019, but Bell Helicopter is taking their solution to traffic congestion vertical.

Just as architects in the early 20th century addressed the problem of land scarcity by building the first skyscrapers, Bell Helicopter believes that the solution to road congestion is to leave the road behind and take to the air.

“As space at the ground level becomes limited, we must solve transportation challenges in the vertical dimension,” says Mitch Snyder, President, and CEO of Bell Helicopter, “And that’s where Bell’s on-demand mobility vision takes hold.”

Building the Bell Nexus

Bell’s solution is the Bell Nexus, a full-scale vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) vehicle that Bell hopes will be deployed in cities around the world.

The Nexus uses a hybrid-electric propulsion system, utilizing six tilting, ducted fans to provide the required lift, the same kind of design that the company has made a signature in its other vehicles.

The Nexus is part of a larger collaborative effort with other familiar names in the industry, which they call Team Nexus. Bell will lead the overall design and development, as well as the production, of the Nexus VTOL systems.

Safran will contribute its hybrid propulsion and drive system to the project and EPS is providing the Nexus with an energy storage system.

Thales’s Flight Control Computer will serve as the Nexus’ hardware and software flight controls, with Moog providing flight control actuation systems and Garmin providing a vehicle management computer and integrating the Nexus’ avionics.

The Future of Air Travel?

According to Bell, the ‘Nexus’ name was chosen to represent the nexus of transportation technology that they’ve pioneered for 80 years and the convenience and comfort expected in urban transportation.

Finding a way to combine the unique logistics of air taxi services, especially in urban environments, and the safety of the passengers and those around the vehicle is a significant challenge, but Bell believes it’s up to the task; they were part of the effort that put men on the moon and brought them back to Earth safely, after all.

Others also believe in Bell’s vision. Uber has expressed serious interest in helping Bell bring the Nexus to market for use in their transportation ecosystem, giving Bell a unique opportunity to build up the market for short trip air travel.

“The industry has anticipated the reveal of our air taxi for some time, so Bell is very proud of this moment,” Snyder said. “We believe the design, taken with our strategic approach to build this infrastructure, will lead to the successful deployment of the Bell Nexus to the world.”

Whether the Bell Nexus is going to be the vehicle fills the space that helicopters and airplanes don’t—and in an affordable and accessible way for the masses—remains to be seen. But if their unveiling of the Bell Nexus at CES 2019 is any indication, Bell is doing everything it can to make it happen.

Norwegian’s plan to introduce free onboard Wi-Fi and new flights in Mexico and South America lead this week’s air travel news. 

This week low-cost transatlantic carrier Norwegian announced plans to introduce free Wi-Fi on its intercontinental flights, which the airline says would make it the first low-cost carrier with such an offering. The new Wi-Fi will be available on the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX aircraft, with the first Wi-Fi-enabled Dreamliner having been delivered December 18, 2018. While the airline’s Basic package, which is free, will be fast enough for email, internet and social media browsing, the airline said, there will also be a Premium option with speeds fast enough for music and video streaming. 

Norwegian said that more than 50 percent of its Dreamliner fleet would offer in-flight connectivity by 2020, with the rollout of Wi-Fi to its 737 MAX aircraft to begin in mid-January. The new service will use the inflight connectivity platform from CabinConnect by Collins Aerospace to provide Internet access, as well as in-flight map and voice and messaging services. 

In new flight news, this week Swoop, a Canada-based low-cost airline, announced service into Puerto Vallarta’s International Airport with the addition of two new routes. The airline will operate service out of British Columbia’s Abbotsford International Airport twice weekly starting January 12. Twice weekly service out of Ontario’s John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport began January 8. Puerto Vallarta also welcomed a new flight from Sunwing out of Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport on December 17, 2018; that seasonal route will operate every Monday until April 15, 2019. 

Elsewhere in Latin America, this week LATAM opened bookings for two new flights. A new route from São Paulo, Brazil, to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, will begin April 1, while a new Saturday flight on the airline’s São Paulo – Boston route will bring that route’s frequency to four to five times per week starting April 6. 

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