FAA closes Jacksonville control center for second time in 10 days

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The federal air traffic control center in Hilliard that controls airspace in northern Florida and South Georgia closed again on Wednesday afternoon – the second time the center has closed this year.

The shutdown – which will last from 4:20 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – comes after another employee tested positive for COVID-19. During this time, the planes were routed around the airspace or manipulated by underlying facilities. The establishment will be carefully cleaned before it reopens.

All flights traveling north from as far south as Miami will travel in a single file along the Atlantic coast and remain at the same altitude until they reach Atlanta airspace. All flights traveling south will do the same but along the Gulf Coast

Flights scheduled to cross the Gulf Coast of Mexico to Florida from places like Texas and Louisiana will have to fly at much lower altitudes, which means burning more fuel, which is why some airlines airlines may choose to simply cancel these flights.

At 5:10 p.m., several flights to and from Jacksonville International Airport were delayed from a few minutes to three hours.

Wednesday’s closing was announced in a tweet from JAX.

Prior to today, the FAA said staff working at the facility tested positive on June 22, 25, 26, July 8, September 9, 21, 22, November 19, 28, December 17 and January 3.

When this happened last week, News4Jax aviation expert Ed Booth called the shutdown “totally unprecedented.”

“It’s been open for 80 years now,” Booth said. “And as far as I know, and I’ve been flying here for 43 years, it hasn’t been closed in those 80 years. It is therefore a historic event.

An FAA spokesperson said Hilliard’s facilities cover Channel flights to Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. It also covers flights to Southeast Georgia and South Carolina.