CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — On Oct. 1, the U.S. government shut down, placing as many as 750,000 federal workers on furlough. It remains unclear how long this shutdown will last. With the Transportation Security Administration screening as many as 3 million people every day, and air traffic control staffing levels already low, strain on staff could affect travelers’ experiences at the airport, says aviation expert Sheldon H. Jacobson, a professor of computer science in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jacobson talked with News Bureau biomedical sciences editor Liz Ahlberg Touchstone about what the shutdown could mean for air travelers.
