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 Photos
The Federal Aviation Administration stated staffing points have been inflicting delays at a number of airports, together with Newark and Denver, on Monday, simply hours after the highest U.S. transportation official stated air site visitors controllers calling in sick had risen barely because the authorities shutdown started.
Some 13,000 air site visitors controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Safety Administration officers should nonetheless flip up for work through 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 stated that at occasions, air site visitors staffing has been lower by 50% in some areas because the shutdown began final week.
The FAA stated air site visitors management staffing points are impacting flights at quite a few airports, together with Newark, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas and Burbank. FlightAware stated 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, slicing off greater than $28 billion of support for local weather packages, subways, tunnels and mass transit in Democratic-leaning states, together with New York and Illinois.
Delays will end result from the decreased staffing, Duffy stated, including that if sick calls improve, air site visitors circulate shall be lower to a charge that maintains air security.
Duffy and the president of the Nationwide Air Visitors Controllers Affiliation spoke at a press convention at Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport to debate the consequences of the shutdown. The airport is certainly one of three serving the closely Democratic-leaning New York metropolitan space and is a serious United Airways UAL.O hub.
Duffy famous controllers are fearful. “They’re excited about, am I going to get a paycheck?,” Duffy stated, 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 worrying?”
The union on Monday reminded employees, “taking part in a job motion might end in elimination from federal service” and that it’s unlawful.
“It’s extra necessary than ever that we rise to the event and proceed delivering the constant, high-level of public service we offer daily,” the union advised members. “We can’t stress sufficient that it’s important to keep away from any actions that might 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 occasions at some airports. Authorities have been pressured to sluggish air site visitors in New York, which put stress on lawmakers to shortly finish the standoff.
Then-Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, stated on the time the shutdown was “pushing our airspace to the breaking level.”
Airline commerce group Airways for America, which represents United, Delta Air Traces DAL.N, American Airways AAL.O and Southwest Airways LUV.N, warned that in a funding lapse “the system could have to 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 site visitors controllers in need of focused staffing ranges.
