Flight cancellations, delays triggered by deep cleaning at FAA control center in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – A day after someone at the Jacksonville air traffic control center in Hilliard tested positive for COVID-19, News4Jax learned that the center was closed Monday night for cleaning.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the shutdown was from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Planes have been brought into the airspace or manipulated by underlying facilities.

A tweet from Jacksonville International Airport warned passengers that the closure “could result in significant delays and / or cancellations.” Travelers should check with their airlines. “

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.

Around 5 p.m. at JAX, Callie Frances and Henry White were trying to get back to Nashville, Tennessee. They checked their flight information online before arriving, and everything looked okay, but things changed when they got to the airport.

“The lady at the counter said we had to be reserved,” White said. “We have changed reservations for tomorrow. We are here for the night.

“Very frustrating,” Frances said. “I have work tomorrow and it changes some of our plans.”

Louise Avery was trying to get back to Kansas City.

“They told us we were going to stay stranded here until morning,” Avery said.

According to George Winterling, retired chief meteorologist of the News4Jax Weather Authority, the air traffic control center opened in December 1941 at Imeson Field – also known as Jacksonville Imeson Airport. In February 1961, the air traffic control center moved to Hilliard. Winterling worked at the Imeson Terminal with the US Weather Bureau for five years before joining WJXT in 1962.

Aside from Sunday, the FAA said it learned that staff working at the facility tested positive on June 22, 25, 26, July 8, September 9, 21, 22, November 19, 28 and December 17.