U.S. Flight Delays Surge Amid Ongoing Air Traffic Controller Shortage

Flight travel disruptions continued for a second consecutive day across the United States as air traffic control staffing shortages worsened during the ongoing government shutdown, now in its seventh day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Tuesday.

More than 3,000 flights have been delayed nationwide, according to flight-tracking data, with major hubs including Houston, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago O’Hare, and Newark among the hardest hit.

At Chicago O’Hare, the FAA has reduced the number of arriving flights per hour due to staffing constraints, resulting in average delays of about 41 minutes. Newark airport also reported delays of up to 30 minutes for arriving flights, while Atlanta’s Air Route Traffic Control Center and Nashville’s control tower are struggling with critical manpower shortages. The FAA added that Nashville operations would be scaled down later in the day, with approach control duties temporarily transferred to Memphis Center.

Officials warned that Washington Reagan National Airport could experience new slowdowns as staffing levels remain low.

As frustrations mount, political leaders have exchanged blame over the disruption. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of being responsible for the situation, while California Governor Gavin Newsom argued that President Donald Trump’s administration should be held accountable.

The aviation sector is also contending with severe weather conditions that have compounded the delays.

Approximately 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are still required to report to work during the shutdown but have not been paid. They are expected to receive partial compensation on October 14 for work completed before the shutdown began.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed that absenteeism among controllers has slightly increased, with staffing levels cut by as much as 50% in some areas since the shutdown’s onset.
“If we don’t have controllers, we’re going to make sure the airspace is safe. So what we do is we’ll slow traffic,” Duffy said on Fox News’ Fox and Friends.

Data from FlightAware showed that over 3,000 U.S. flights had been delayed as of Tuesday, including 225 in Nashville—representing 20% of its scheduled departures—and more than 570 at Chicago O’Hare, exceeding 20% of its operations. Southwest Airlines reportedly delayed over 500 flights, while American Airlines experienced around 400 delays.

The U.S. has grappled with chronic air traffic control shortages for more than a decade, and even before the current shutdown, many controllers were working six-day weeks and mandatory overtime. The FAA remains short by roughly 3,500 controllers compared to its staffing targets.

During the last major shutdown in 2019, unpaid controllers and TSA staff began calling in sick as missed paychecks piled up, forcing flight slowdowns and long security lines at major airports. The growing disruption then helped push Congress to end the standoff, an outcome aviation observers warn could repeat if the current shutdown drags on.