Air travel disruptions persist after shutdown as FAA orders continued 6% flight cancellations

Air traffic controllers worked the entire 43-day shutdown without paychecks. By Oct. 28, controllers had missed their first full zero-dollar paycheck — working 28 consecutive days unpaid. The FAA reported 264 staffing-related operational problems since Oct. 1, roughly four times the pace of 2024.

Controllers' sick-call rates rose significantly during the shutdown, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed to deliberate work avoidance and threatened to fire. NATCA union president Nick Daniels pushed back, saying working without pay creates financial stress that causes genuine illness, mental health crises, and dangerous distractions in the cockpit.

The 6% cancellation rate applied at 40 airports continued into the week after the shutdown, affecting Thanksgiving travel planning. Airlines were unable to restore full schedules immediately because controllers returning from furlough needed time to requalify on specific routes and facilities.

The FAA faces a structural controller shortage that predates the shutdown. The agency had roughly 10,800 certified controllers in 2025 — about 3,000 short of the FAA's own staffing target. The FAA Academy, which trains new controllers at an 18-month minimum timeline, lost funding during the shutdown and delayed starting several new training cohorts.

The shutdown also threatened the FAA's long-term infrastructure program. The agency had been in the early stages of a $31.5 billion effort to replace its 1960s-era radar and communications systems — many of which run on hardware that is no longer manufactured. Contractors on that program faced payment delays during the shutdown, and several subcontractors reported having to pause work.

Chicago O'Hare, Denver International, and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson led disruptions on the first post-shutdown day, with 44, 43, and 37 cancellations respectively as of 5 a.m. ET. Airlines held back flights rather than risk stranding passengers mid-connection at understaffed hubs.

The travel industry estimated the shutdown cost it approximately $1 billion per week in revenue losses. That estimate came from industry groups and did not include downstream losses to hotels, rental car companies, restaurants, and tourism-related businesses near major airports.