A shortage of air traffic controllers has already caused numerous plane delays as the FAA slows down or stops traffic.
Published November 4, 2025
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there could be chaos in the skies next week if the government shutdown drags on and air traffic controllers don’t get a second paycheck.
Duffy made the comments Tuesday as the U.S. government shutdown extended into its 35th day, matching the longest government shutdown of U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term at the time.
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Airports across the country are already experiencing numerous delays, sometimes lasting for hours, as a shortage of air traffic controllers causes the Federal Aviation Administration to slow or temporarily stop traffic. Last weekend saw the worst staffing shortages, with flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey delayed several hours on Sunday.
Both Mr Duffy and the head of the air traffic controllers union have warned that the longer the shutdown lasts, the worse the situation will become and the economic pressure on those working without pay will continue to increase. FAA employees had already missed one paycheck on Oct. 28. The next payday is scheduled for next Tuesday.
“Many of the controllers said, ‘Many of us can handle missing one paycheck. Not all of us, but many of us can. None of us can handle missing two paychecks,'” Duffy said. “So, Democrats, a week from today, there’s going to be chaos. There’s going to be a lot of plane delays, there’s going to be a lot of cancellations, there’s going to be certain parts of the airspace closed down because we don’t have air traffic controllers, we can’t manage that.”
Most flight disruptions so far during the grounding have been isolated and temporary. But if the delays widen further and begin to ripple through the system, pressure will increase on Congress to reach a deal to end the government shutdown.
Typically, airlines strive for at least 80% of flights to depart and arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said overall delay totals have not fallen far below target since the shutdown began on October 1, as most of the disruptions so far have been no worse than those that occur when large thunderstorms move through airports.
But as of Sunday, only about 56% of Newark Airport’s departing flights departed on time, and Orlando Airport reported that only about 70% of its flights arrived on time, according to Cirium.
As of noon Tuesday, 1,932 flight delays had been reported across the United States, according to www.FlightAware.com. While this number is lower than typical, the FAA did announce flight delays at the Phoenix airport on Tuesday morning due to staffing shortages. Strong winds also caused delays at Newark and LaGuardia airports on Tuesday.
