FAA closes Jacksonville control center for the second time in 10 days

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

The closure – to last from 4:20 pm to 6:30 pm – occurs after another employee tested positive for COVID-19. During that time, planes were routed around airspace or controlled by underlying facilities. The installation will be completely cleaned before reopening.

All flights traveling from north to south to 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 travel across the Gulf Coast 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 may choose to simply cancel these flights.

As of 5:10 pm, several flights to and from Jacksonville International Airport were delayed from a few minutes to three hours.

Wednesday’s closing was announced in a JAX tweet.

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

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

“It’s been open for 80 years,” said Booth. “And as far as I can tell, and I’ve been flying around here for 43 years, it hasn’t closed in 80 years. So this is a historic event. “

An FAA spokesman said the Hilliard facility covers Panhandle flights to Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. It also covers flights in southeastern Georgia and South Carolina.