US flight delays, cancellations accelerate as air traffic controller shortages surge

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of thousands of travellers had their flights delayed or cancelled on Nov 9 on the worst day for disruptions since the start of a US government shutdown, as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned of worse to come in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Airlines cancelled more than 2,800 US flights and delayed more than 10,200 on Nov 9 on the

third day of government-mandated flight cuts

due to rising air traffic control staffing shortages, after thousands of delays and cancellations snarled traffic on Nov 8.

The government shutdown, which has reached a record 40 days, has led to shortages of air traffic controllers who, like other federal employees, have not been paid for weeks.

“It’s only going to get worse... the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle,” Mr Duffy said on CNN’s State Of The Union programme.

Millions of people usually travel in the run-up to Thanksgiving, one of the most important US holidays, which in 2025 falls on Nov 27.

“Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up,” Mr Duffy said.

The

US Senate voted to advance a Bill

to end the government shutdown late on Nov 9.

But if the Senate eventually passes the Bill, the package still must be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to President Donald Trump for his signature, a process that could take several days.

Mr Duffy has said he does not plan to rescind the flight cuts until controllers begin returning to work and safety data improves.

Daily flights cut

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instructed airlines to cut 4 per cent of daily flights starting on Nov 7 at 40 major airports because of air traffic control safety concerns.

Reductions in flights are mandated to reach 6 per cent on Nov 11 and then hit 10 per cent by Nov 14.

American Airlines urged quick approval of the Senate Bill, noting that for 40 days, “federal aviation workers haven’t been paid, and our customers have endured thousands of delays and cancellations due to the government shutdown”.

Many airlines have already planned their cancellations for the coming days. United Airlines, for example, will cut 190 flights on Nov 10 and 269 on Nov 11, the company said.

The FAA earlier in the day said it had staffing issues at 12 towers.

A growing number of air traffic controllers have retired since the federal shutdown started on Oct 1, Mr Duffy said.

The FAA is 1,000 to 2,000 controllers short of full staffing, he told CNN.

“I paid experienced controllers to stay on the job and not retire,” Mr Duffy said. “I used to have about four controllers retire a day before the shutdown... now, up to 15 to 20 a day are retiring.”

Some 1,550 flights were cancelled and 6,700 were delayed on Nov 8, up from 1,025 cancellations and 7,000 delayed flights on Nov 7.

Airline officials privately said the number of delay programmes made it nearly impossible to schedule and plan many flights and expressed alarm about how the system would function if staffing issues worsen.

The impact on air travel could hit US economic growth, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in an interview that aired on Nov 9.

“Thanksgiving time is one of the hottest times of the year for the economy... and if people aren’t traveling at that moment, then we really could be looking at a negative quarter for the fourth quarter,” he told the CBS show Face The Nation.

Airlines For America, which represents major carriers, said staffing issues had disrupted more than four million passengers’ travel plans since Oct 1, when the shutdown began.

By Nov 14, it estimated a daily US economic impact of US$285 million (S$371 million) to US$580 million.

The cuts, which began on the morning of Nov 7, include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

During the shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay.

Mr Duffy had earlier said he could require 20 per cent cuts in air traffic if more controllers stop showing up for work.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said he was told by the FAA that since the shutdown started, pilots have filed more than 500 safety reports about mistakes made by air traffic controllers because of fatigue. REUTERS