GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Officials from Austin Straubel International Airport say the ongoing partial government shutdown could potentially impact them the longer it continues.
As of now though, the airport in Green Bay hasn’t been negatively affected to the extent that larger airports have.
Right now lines continue to move along and workers are still on the job.
“Here in Green Bay, you show up and you maybe wait ten minutes at the checkpoint,” says Marty Piette, Airport Director. “The impacts not as noticeable.”
He explains that larger airports with more staff and long lines are the ones negatively impacted throughout this process.
“It’s one of those times we’re fortunate to be a smaller airport, because the impact has been lessened,” says Piette.
But as the shutdown continues with no end in sight, officials have to start considering developments down the road.
“If some of the employees stop showing up then certainly our operations could slow down,” he explains.
But once again, a reduction in staff wouldn’t likely create gridlock inside Austin Straubel Airport.
If anything, Piette explains that a continued partial shutdown might bring changes to their TSA pre-check and screening lines.
“That could be combined into one lane, that would help speed up the operation as well,” he says. “So, that would be the worst case scenario at this point.”
Hypothetically if that change does become necessary, it most likely won’t be drastic enough to disrupt normal traffic inside the airport.
“Because of the short lines at Green Bay and the efficiency of the operation, the slow-down, I don’t think would be even noticeable to the traveling public,” explains Piette.
One concern was that while operations remain standard locally, delays may be encountered when flying into a larger airport where the shutdown has had a greater impact.
For Piette, he’s not seeing that either.
“There aren’t any delays with the flights,” he explains.
Additionally, air traffic control staff remains at work as they have been deemed throughout this process as essential employees.
