FAA staffing problems quadruple as 13,294 controllers work unpaid

The FAA reported 264 staffing-related operational problems in the first 28 days of the shutdown — roughly four times the rate seen in 2024. By Oct. 19, ground delays and route restrictions were widespread at 40 high-traffic airports. The FAA imposed a 6% daily cancellation requirement to manage the load, grounding hundreds of flights before they were scheduled to depart.

13,294 certified air traffic controllers worked the entire shutdown without paychecks. By Oct. 28, they had worked 28 consecutive days unpaid — roughly four full work weeks. Federal law requires back pay after funding is restored, but provides no bridge during the lapse itself.

The FAA employed 13,164 certified controllers at the end of fiscal year 2025 — about 6% fewer than the 14,000 on staff in 2015 — while total flights handled rose 10% to 30.8 million between FY 2015 and FY 2024. The GAO found that 20 of 26 critical facilities had staffing levels below 85% of FAA's desired level as of 2023, before the shutdown deepened the shortage further.

Controllers' sick-call rates increased significantly during the shutdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy publicly threatened to fire controllers who called in sick, calling the absences a deliberate slowdown. NATCA president Nick Daniels disputed that framing, telling reporters that financial stress from missed paychecks causes genuine illness and dangerous distraction on the job.

TSA officers — who screen passengers at airports — also worked without pay. A TSA spokesperson confirmed that some officers were taking second jobs to cover expenses during the shutdown. TSA staffing levels at secondary checkpoints dropped at several airports, creating longer screening wait times at busy hubs.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated the shutdown cost the travel industry $1 billion per week in lost revenue. That estimate covered airline ticket refunds, missed hotel bookings, canceled rental car reservations, and ripple effects on tourism-dependent small businesses.

The FAA Academy — which trains new controllers at a minimum 18-month pipeline — suspended new cohort enrollments during the shutdown. The FAA was already 3,000 controllers short of its target staffing level before Oct. 1. The suspension of training deepened a shortage that takes years, not months, to recover from.

The FAA's NextGen infrastructure replacement program — which aims to replace 1960s-era radar, navigation, and communications hardware at an estimated total cost of $35 billion through 2030 — faced payment delays to contractors. Several subcontractors paused work, slowing a modernization effort the agency had described as critical to long-term aviation safety.

Ground stops and ground delays were concentrated at the 40 busiest U.S. airports. Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Atlanta, and the New York metro airports (JFK, LaGuardia, Newark) were hit hardest. The BTS tracks NAS delay causes — National Airspace System delays, which include controller staffing shortfalls — as a distinct delay category. Passengers were typically given less than 24 hours notice of cancellations, and rebooking on already-congested flights was difficult.