How Would a Government Shutdown Impact Travel?

The U.S. is closing in on a government shutdown, which would begin at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, if no deal is reached to keep the government funded after the September 30 deadline.

As the deadline approaches, the question for the travel industry becomes: How would a shutdown impact day-to-day business for travel advisors and their clients? The answer generally depends on how long a shutdown lasts, and the type of travel clients are taking.

A shutdown would cause some closures or service reductions at some of America’s most well-known destinations, including national parks and federally run museums like the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park, the Smithsonian Museums, and the National Gallery of Art, all in Washington, D.C.

The biggest impact would be on air travel. Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers are all federal employees, so a shutdown would affect them. However, these workers are typically deemed essential and must work through the shutdown without pay.

There are usually longer lines at airport security and potentially more flight delays than usual because of staffing issues, but operations will continue. Fliers typically will not see a major impact unless essential workers decide to stay home, a scenario that occurred during the 2019 shutdown. These impacts become more likely the longer a shutdown lasts.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will suspend Global Entry applications during a shutdown, and passport applications will likely be delayed, too. TSA PreCheck will continue to accept applications because it is a fee-funded program.

Travel Industry Response and Economic Impact

The U.S. Travel Association last week sent a letter to Congress, imploring them to do what they can to avoid a shutdown that is typically catastrophic to the travel economy.

According to that letter, a shutdown costs America’s travel economy $1 billion per week due to disruptions in air and rail travel, and the closure of national parks and museums.

“A shutdown is a wholly preventable blow to America’s travel economy—costing $1 billion every week—and affecting millions of travelers and businesses while placing unnecessary strain on an already overextended federal travel workforce,” U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman said in the letter.

There are also questions about how Americans would react to uncertainty, and a survey from Ipsos, published by the U.S. Travel Association, suggests that a rising level of uncertainty would damage travel. The survey found that 60% of Americans said they would cancel or avoid trips by air in the event of a shutdown, and that 81% of Americans agree government shutdowns hurt the economy and inconvenience air travelers.