Flight delays as US air traffic controllers feel strain of government shutdown | US federal government shutdown 2025
Major U.S. airports continued to see flight delays Tuesday as air traffic control facilities struggled to maintain staffing amid the federal government shutdown.
Shortages on Monday affected major airports in New York, Los Angeles and Denver on Monday, with more than 6,000 flights delayed in the United States.
The air traffic control facility managing Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles shut down completely Monday afternoon into Monday evening amid staffing shortages.
While other government employees are furloughed during the shutdown, air traffic controllers are considered essential workers and must continue to work without pay during the shutdown.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters on Monday that the airspace was still safe for travelers, although slightly more controllers had called in sick since the shutdown began.
“Do I think they are more stressed right now in our towers? Yes. Is our airspace dangerous? No,” he said.
Some facilities have had their staff reduced and Duffy stressed that if the department thinks there are problems in the airspace, “we will close it, we will close it, we will delay.”
In a statement, the National Air Traffic Colenterrs Association Union, which represents 20,000 air traffic controllers, said controllers could work “10 hours a day, 6 days a week to ensure [flights] And their precious passengers and cargo arrive safely.”
“A government shutdown adds an unnecessary distraction to their jobs, adding strain to a workforce that is already stretched working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, operating the world’s most complex airspace,” the release said, noting that during the last government shutdown in 2019, many controllers had to “take jobs to feed their families and pay bills – leading to Stress and Fatigue.”
In addition to shortages among air traffic controllers, the government shutdown also affects the Essential Air Services program, which helps commercial airlines maintain service to smaller airports. Duffy said there was a potential that funding under the shutdown could start to dry up.
“There are a lot of small communities across the country that will no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service in their communities,” he said. “Every state across the country will be affected if the program runs out of money.”
The government shutdown began last Monday after Republicans and Democrats in the Senate reached an impasse over funding.
Although Republicans have a slight majority in the Senate, they need 60 votes out of 100 to pass a funding bill. Democrats said they would not pass a bill that did not include health care concessions. Republican leaders have said they will not negotiate until funding is restored.
