US Aviation Crisis: Over 1,700 Flights Cancelled Due to Government Shutdown and Air Traffic Controller Shortages

The weekend witnessed continued air travel disruption across the United States, with more than 1,700 flights cancelled and thousands more delayed due to severe air traffic controller staffing shortages amid the ongoing government shutdown.

According to data from flight tracking website FlightAware, Saturday alone saw over 1,500 cancellations and more than 6,600 delays, while Sunday reported an additional 1,000 cancellations and hundreds of delays.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has attributed these widespread disruptions to staffing shortfalls, as air traffic controllers and federal security screeners miss paychecks during the budget impasse.

The nation's busiest airports experienced the most significant impact. New York City's three major hubs—Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, and John F. Kennedy International—faced hours-long delays on Saturday.

The FAA temporarily implemented a ground stop for incoming flights to Newark after average arrival delays exceeded four hours earlier on Saturday.

LaGuardia departures faced delays of up to 75 minutes, while flights in and out of JFK were delayed by more than two hours on average.

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport experienced arrival delays approaching five and a half hours, while Washington, DC's Reagan National Airport saw nearly 80 flights cancelled on Friday with almost half of all arrivals delayed.

Other major airports including Chicago, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Phoenix, Seattle, and Orlando also reported significant operational disruptions.

International travel was affected as well, with major global hubs such as Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, Toronto's Pearson Airport, and Tokyo's Haneda Airport reporting double-digit cancellations.

The FAA has ordered airlines to reduce domestic flights by 4 percent at 40 of the country's busiest airports—a measure officials say is necessary to maintain safety standards during the shutdown. However, this reduction has failed to prevent cascading delays.

If the government impasse continues, the FAA plans to increase the mandatory flight reductions to 6 percent by Tuesday, 8 percent by Thursday, and 10 percent by next Friday.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned in a Fox News interview that these reductions could rise as high as 15-20 percent if Congress does not resolve the budget deadlock soon.

Former FAA Deputy Administrator Dan Elwell described the situation as "uncharted territory," cautioning that disruptions could worsen and potentially impact upcoming holiday travel if the shutdown persists.