The U.S. Government Shutdown Is Starting to Impact Travel

The U.S. government shutdown, now in its sixth day, is starting to impact air travel.

According to notices from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), flights at three airports were delayed on Monday because of air traffic control (ATC) staffing shortages.

Arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Denver International Airport (DEN), and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) were all delayed, some for over two hours, because of ATC staffing shortages. According to reports, from 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time Monday, there were no air traffic controllers in the tower at Burbank, and operations were instead run remotely by ATC at Southern California TRACON out of San Diego.

The delayed flights were not a significant part of any of the airports’ overall schedules (just 1% of arrivals at Boston, according to FlightAware); however, the notices from the FAA were the first of what could be many notices blaming the ongoing government shutdown and subsequent ATC shortages for flight delays.

ATC, FAA, and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff are all essential employees, so even during a government shutdown they are forced to work, albeit without pay until the shutdown ends. But staff shortages tend to increase the longer a shutdown runs. ATC staff calling out has been a signature of past shutdowns—the shutdown in 2019, which lasted 35 days, was brought to an end only after ATC absences started causing widespread flight delays.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday that the Department of Transportation (DOT) will not allow flights to operate if there are issues in airspace, instead telling reporters, “We will shut it down.”

Duffy, on CNBC on Tuesday morning, said that controllers at Newark are working six days a week without pay, and some are looking at ways to get income during the shutdown. He added that he does not anticipate consistent issues at specific airports, but issues could appear anywhere and everywhere.

“I’m not seeing one location consistently,” Duffy said. “What I’m seeing is a small blip in one facility, and then it gets resolved, and it pops up somewhere else. But we are seeing issues in the system.”