Washington: U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,100 flights on Sunday, as the ongoing government shutdown and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) directive to reduce air traffic continued to disrupt travel nationwide.
The slowdown, now in its third day, is affecting operations at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports, triggering over 7,000 additional delays on Sunday alone, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight disruptions. More than 1,000 flights were canceled on Friday and 1,500 on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that air travel could “slow to a trickle” if the shutdown extends into the busy Thanksgiving holiday period.
The FAA last week ordered flight reductions as unpaid air traffic controllers began calling in absent. The cuts, which started at 4 percent on Friday, will rise to 10 percent by November 14, affecting all commercial airlines from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.
According to FlightAware, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported the most cancellations Sunday (173), followed by Newark Liberty International Airport (115). Staffing shortages at Newark and New York’s LaGuardia Airport caused average departure delays of about 75 minutes, the FAA said.
At Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, terminals were largely empty Sunday morning, with minimal security lines despite hundreds of delayed and canceled flights.
Duffy warned that additional cuts—possibly up to 20 percent—could be implemented, especially if controllers miss another paycheck.
“More controllers aren’t coming to work day by day, the further they go without a paycheck,” Duffy said on Fox News Sunday. He cautioned that travel could become nearly impossible as Thanksgiving approaches:
“You’ll have a few flights taking off and landing and thousands of cancellations. It’s going to be massive disruption — a lot of angry Americans,” he said.
The U.S. has faced a shortage of air traffic controllers for years, with successive administrations urging older staff to delay retirement. The shutdown, Duffy said, has worsened the issue, prompting 15 to 20 retirements a day.
He added that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had offered to lend military air traffic controllers, though it remains unclear whether they are certified to work in civilian systems.
Rejecting Democratic claims that the flight reductions are politically motivated, Duffy insisted the move was necessary for safety:
“I needed to take action to keep people safe. I’m doing what I can in a mess that Democrats have put in my lap.”
According to Airlines for America, the trade group representing U.S. carriers, air traffic control staffing-related delays totaled over 3,000 hours on Saturday, the highest since the shutdown began. Staffing issues accounted for 71 percent of total delay time, affecting over 4 million passengers between October 1 and November 7.
