NEW YORK (AP) — Air travelers should expect worsening cancellations and delays this week even if the government shutdown ends, as the Federal Aviation Administration moves ahead with deeper cuts to flights at 40 of the busiest U.S. airports, officials said Monday.
After a weekend that saw thousands of flights canceled, airlines canceled another 1,700 flights by early Monday afternoon and nearly 1,000 for Tuesday. Some air traffic controllers — unpaid for nearly a month — have stopped showing up, citing the added stress and need to take second jobs.
President Donald Trump pressured controllers on Monday to “get back to work, NOW!!!”
The president posted on social media that he wants to give a $10,000 bonus to controllers who've stayed on the job every day and dock the pay of those who didn't.
The head of the controllers union said they are being used as a “political pawn” in the fight over the shutdown.
The Senate took a first step Sunday toward reopening the federal government, but final passage could still be several days away. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain in place until the FAA sees safety metrics improve.
Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights to comply with the order to eliminate 4% of flights. The cancellations are scheduled to rise to 6% of all flights at 40 of the nation's busiest airports on Tuesday. By the end of the week, cancellations are set to reach 10% of all flights at those airports.
Already, travelers are growing angry.
“All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and it’s 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” said Todd Walker, whose flight from San Francisco to Washington state was canceled over the weekend, causing him to miss his mom’s 80th birthday party.
About 10% of all flights nationwide were canceled Sunday, making it the fourth worst day for cancellations since January 2024, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Even though the airlines only set out to cut 4% of flights at these 40 airports, there are ripple effects throughout the system when planes and crews are out of position for their next flights.
The FAA issued more flight restrictions starting Monday, barring business jets and many private flights from using a dozen of the airports where restrictions on commercial flights are already in place.
In a letter Monday to employees, David Seymour, chief operating officer of American Airlines, said the fallout of the ongoing shutdown could extend far beyond the FAA-mandated flight cuts.
Airports nationwide have seen delays at times since the shutdown began because the FAA slows air traffic when it's short on controllers to ensure flights remain safe.
The shutdown has made a demanding job even more stressful, leading to fatigue and increased risks, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
“This is the erosion of the safety margin the public never sees, but the American public relies upon every day,” the union chief said at a news conference Monday.
Some controllers can't afford child care to come to work while others are moonlighting as food delivery drivers or even selling plasma to pay their bills, Daniels said. The number who are retiring or quitting is “growing by the day,” he said.
Tuesday will be the second missed payday for air traffic controllers and other FAA employees. It's unclear how quickly they might be paid once the shutdown ends. Daniels said that in the 2019 shutdown, it took controllers 2 to 2½ months to get all their back pay.
The shutdown and money worries have become regular “dinnertime conversations” for Amy Lark and her husband, both air traffic controllers in the Washington, D.C. area.
“Yesterday, my kids asked me how long we could stay in our house,” Lark said at the news conference. Still, she said controllers remain “100% committed.”
The government has struggled for years with a shortage of air traffic controllers, and Duffy said the shutdown has worsened the problem, prompting some controllers to retire early or quit. Before the shutdown, the transportation secretary had been working to address the shortage by hiring more controllers, speeding up training and offering bonuses to retain experienced controllers.
Duffy warned over the weekend that if the shutdown drags on, the situation could deteriorate further as the U.S. heads into the busy holiday travel season. He said air travel may “be reduced to a trickle” by the week of Thanksgiving.
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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Michael R. Sisak in New York, Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking in Washington, Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.