WASHINGTON — Major airports across the United States were thrown into disarray this weekend as a surge in air traffic controllers calling out of work led to widespread flight delays and cancellations, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday, according to BBC News.
The agency confirmed that nearly half of the nation’s 30 busiest airports were experiencing critical staff shortages. In New York, where airspace is among the world’s busiest, up to 80% of controllers were absent, forcing the FAA to slow air traffic “to maintain safety.”
The disruption comes amid a deepening government shutdown now entering its second month, leaving roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers working without pay. Like other essential federal employees, controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents are legally required to report to duty despite the lapse in funding.
“After 31 days without pay, air traffic controllers are under immense stress and fatigue,” the FAA said in a social media post, urging lawmakers to end the impasse and “allow workers to receive the pay they’ve earned and travelers to avoid further disruptions.”
On Friday alone, nearly 6,000 flights were delayed and close to 500 canceled, according to the flight-tracking service FlightAware.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News that the situation had reached “a breaking point.”
“These are people living paycheck to paycheck,” Duffy said. “They’re worried about gas, childcare, and mortgages and still expected to guide millions safely through the skies.”
Congress remains deadlocked as a Republican-backed funding bill has repeatedly failed to pass the Senate. Democrats, meanwhile, have demanded extensions of health insurance tax credits and a reversal of President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid in exchange for reopening the government.
As the shutdown drags on, so too does the strain on airspace, airports, and the people who keep them running.
