WASHINGTON, D.C. / LOS ANGELES – The U.S. government shutdown entered its second week with rising strain on air travel. Thousands of flight delays have piled up, federal aviation staff are working without pay, and pressure is building on lawmakers to end the impasse.
Controllers on duty, paychecks frozen
Under federal law, air traffic controllers are “excepted” employees and must work during a shutdown. More than 13,000have gone unpaid since October 1. The controllers’ union NATCA has urged members to keep working and avoid illegal job actions. The FAA entered 2025 short by about 3,500 to 3,800 controllers, and training and certification have been suspended during the funding lapse.
Flight delays persist across major hubs
The FAA delayed flights for a third straight day this week at Reagan National and Newark, citing staffing shortages. Nationwide, delays have run 3,000 to 6,000 per day in recent days, with bottlenecks at Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Dallas, Boston
While stress is growing, IATA director general Willie Walsh said the shutdown has not yet created significant disruptions to commercial schedules, and unlike past shutdowns, recruitment of new controllers continues.
Burbank tower unstaffed for hours
In Southern California, Hollywood Burbank Airport’s control tower was unstaffed from 4:15 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. PTon Oct. 6. SoCal TRACON in San Diego managed the airspace while pilots used visual flight rules on the field. Delays averaged about two and a half hours, and normal staffing resumed the next day.
Small communities face route risks
The shutdown also threatens Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidies that keep flights running to rural and remote areas. The Department of Transportation has told airlines those funds could end Sunday, Oct. 12, and that carriers flying EAS routes beyond that date may do so at their own risk until Congress restores funding.
Politics and modernization
On Oct. 9, the administration began airing a video on airport screens blaming Democrats for the shutdown’s aviation impacts, a move confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, major carriers represented by Airlines for America have urged the FAA to deliver “quick-win” modernization steps, replacing paper flight strips and upgrading radar and communications systems, to reduce vulnerabilities.
If the shutdown continues past mid-October, when many federal workers miss a second paycheck, analysts expect more absenteeism and cascading delays. The FAA says safety remains intact, but prolonged uncertainty continues to test the people who keep U.S. airspace moving.
