US airports hit by major delays from record-breaking government shutdown

Absences surge among US aerial postulation controllers, who person been moving for much than a period without pay.

Airports crossed the United States are experiencing large delays and cancellations owed to an uptick successful absences from aerial postulation controllers, who are nether “immense accent and fatigue” from the ongoing, record-breaking US authorities shutdown, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

More than 16,700 US flights were delayed and different 2,282 were cancelled implicit the play from Friday to Sunday, according to FlightAware, a US website that provides real-time formation tracking.

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The delays continued into Monday evening successful the US, arsenic FlightAware counted much than 4,000 delays and 600 cancellations crossed large airports, similar Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver and Newark.

The FAA said connected X that fractional of its “Core 30” facilities astatine large US airports were experiencing staffing shortages owed to the shutdown, with absences astatine New York-area airports hitting 80 percent.

Nearly 13,000 aerial postulation controllers person been moving without wage for weeks, ensuring the information of much than 50,000 regular operations crossed the nationalist airspace strategy (NAS).

As we caput into this weekend, a surge successful callouts is straining staffing levels astatine multiple…

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) November 1, 2025

Air postulation controllers, who fig astir 13,000 crossed the US, are classified arsenic “essential workers”, which means they person been moving without wage since the shutdown began connected October 1.

But the FAA said that determination had been a surge successful absences, which had forced it to reduce the travel of aerial postulation successful the US to support information standards.

“The shutdown indispensable extremity truthful that these controllers person the wage they’ve earned and travellers tin debar further disruptions and delays,” the FAA said connected X connected Friday. “When staffing shortages occur, the FAA volition trim the travel of aerial postulation to support safety. This whitethorn effect successful delays oregon cancellations.”

US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told CBS News’s Face the Nation programme connected Sunday that the delays volition proceed to support hose safety.

“We enactment overtime to marque definite the strategy is safe. And we volition dilatory postulation down, you’ll spot delays, we’ll person flights cancelled to marque definite the strategy is safe,” Duffy said, according to a transcript of the programme.

Duffy said that though aerial postulation controllers were utilizing their absences to enactment 2nd jobs elsewhere, they would not beryllium fired. “When they’re making decisions to provender their families, I’m not going to occurrence aerial postulation controllers,” helium said.

The authorities shutdown is owed to participate its 35th time connected Tuesday successful the US, erstwhile it volition necktie with the 2018-2019 shutdown arsenic the longest successful US history.

At slightest 670,000 civilian national employees person been furloughed owed to the shutdown, portion astir 730,000 are moving without pay, according to the Washington, DC-based Bipartisan Policy Center.