Sean Duffy, U.S. secretary of transportation, throughout a information convention in Terminal A at Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) in Newark, New Jersey, US, on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
The Federal Aviation Administration mentioned staffing points had been inflicting delays at a number of airports, together with Newark and Denver, on Monday, simply hours after the highest U.S. transportation official mentioned air visitors controllers calling in sick had risen barely for the reason that authorities shutdown started.
Some 13,000 air visitors controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Safety Administration officers should nonetheless flip up for work throughout the shutdown. They don’t seem to be being paid and controllers are set to overlook their first paycheck on October 14.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned that at instances, air visitors staffing has been minimize by 50% in some areas for the reason that shutdown began final week.
The FAA mentioned air visitors management staffing points are impacting flights at quite a few airports, together with Newark, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas and Burbank. FlightAware mentioned greater than 4,000 flights within the U.S. on Monday have been delayed, together with 29% arriving flights at Denver, 19% of Newark flights and 15% of Las Vegas flights. Climate points are additionally impacting flights.
President Donald Trump has made transportation a focus in a authorities shutdown battle with the Democrats, chopping off greater than $28 billion of support for local weather applications, subways, tunnels and mass transit in Democratic-leaning states, together with New York and Illinois.
Delays will consequence from the lowered staffing, Duffy mentioned, including that if sick calls enhance, air visitors circulate can be minimize to a price that maintains air security.
Duffy and the president of the Nationwide Air Site visitors Controllers Affiliation spoke at a press convention at Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport to debate the consequences of the shutdown. The airport is one in all three serving the closely Democratic-leaning New York metropolitan space and is a significant United Airways UAL.O hub.
Duffy famous controllers are apprehensive. “They’re occupied with, am I going to get a paycheck?,” Duffy mentioned, including that some are asking themselves: “Do I’ve to take a second job and drive Uber once I’m already exhausted from doing a job that is already anxious?”
The union on Monday reminded employees, “collaborating in a job motion might end in removing from federal service” and that it’s unlawful.
“It’s extra vital than ever that we rise to the event and proceed delivering the constant, high-level of public service we offer day by day,” the union informed members. “We can not stress sufficient that it’s important to keep away from any actions that would replicate poorly on you, our union, or our professions.”
In 2019, throughout a 35-day shutdown, the variety of absences by controllers and Transportation Safety Administration officers rose as employees missed paychecks, extending checkpoint wait instances at some airports. Authorities had been pressured to gradual air visitors in New York, which put stress on lawmakers to rapidly finish the standoff.
Then-Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, mentioned on the time the shutdown was “pushing our airspace to the breaking level.”
Airline commerce group Airways for America, which represents United, Delta Air Strains DAL.N, American Airways AAL.O and Southwest Airways LUV.N, warned that in a funding lapse “the system could must decelerate, lowering effectivity” and impacting vacationers.
A persistent scarcity of controllers has delayed flights and lots of are working obligatory extra time and six-day weeks. The FAA is about 3,500 air visitors controllers wanting focused staffing ranges.
