by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Mon October 20, 2025
It’s been twenty days since the government shut down on October 1, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now warning that numerous staffing triggers have been received, with air traffic controller absences creating delays from Chicago to Phoenix.
According to Reuters’ reporting on the subject, the FAA identified that the delays at airports including Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Newark, Las Vegas and others were facing delays specifically due to air traffic controller absences.
Air traffic controllers received their last paychecks on October 14 and will not be paid until the government shutdown ends, even if they take vacation or sick leave.
While there are about 13,000 air traffic controllers currently working without pay across the nation, the FAA is facing a critical workers shortage, with 3,500 more air traffic controllers needed just to hit minimum staffing recommendations—putting strain on an already strained system when people take leaves of absence.
Today is the International Day of the Air Traffic Controller.
Some 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers are also working without pay; absences at security checkpoints might also snarl TSA wait times. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the busiest airport in the United States, issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) encouraging travelers heading through TSA checkpoints to allow for delays, as TSA worker shortages are increasing security screening times to be about 20 to 30 minutes today.
According to FlightAware, there were 7,756 delays on Sunday and 5,724 delays on Saturday. Thirty-one percent of American Airlines’ flights on Sunday faced delays.
Unions and airlines both have been supporting air traffic controllers by delivering free food to air traffic control towers this past week, and by advocating an end to the government shutdown.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has told reporters that 53 percent of all flight delays in the United States stem from air traffic control shortages, though that number has not been independently verified. In the same call, he also mentioned firing those who take sick leave.
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