Airport delays continue amid ongoing US gov’t shutdown

Travelers across America are dealing with some serious turbulence, for reasons that have nothing to do with the weather.

Staffing shortages at US airports have caused thousands of flight delays this week, as effects from the US government shutdown, now in its ninth day, are being felt across the country.

• Delays due to a lack of air traffic controllers were reported this week at airports in Boston, Burbank, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Newark, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.
• The FAA also said staffing triggers were in effect for a dozen major US airports this week, meaning the agency reduced the number of flights in and out to adjust for lower-than-ideal staffing levels.

Delays are likely tied to the gov’t shutdown

Air traffic controllers across the US are currently working without pay because of the ongoing shutdown, leading to a “slight tick up” in sick calls since the shutdown began, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

And since America has experienced air traffic controller staffing shortages for years—made worse by insufficient hiring, long training timelines, and high dropout rates—even a small number of sick calls can lead to widespread travel delays across the country.

But things are looking up. The fallout from air traffic controller shortages appears to have entered a controlled descent. While a combined ~10,000 flights were delayed on Monday and Tuesday, largely due to staffing issues, there were just ~3,600 flights delayed across the US yesterday, according to Flight Aware.

Zoom out: The Senate rejected dueling Republican and Democratic funding proposals to end the government shutdown for a sixth straight time yesterday, with no hint of progress toward a resolution. The GOP bill seeks to provide funding at current levels through late November, while Democrats are pushing for any funding bill to include health-care protections.