The Hollywood Burbank Airport air traffic control tower stands in Burbank, California, on Oct. 6, 2025.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Travelers should prepare for potential flight disruptions this holiday weekend as the federal government shutdown continues, a bunch representing the most important U.S. airlines said Friday.
Air traffic controller shortages this week delayed flights at some U.S. airports, including in Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee.
“It’s protected to fly, but ATC staffing shortages strain the system and cause flights to be spaced out, slowing down the whole lot. In some cases, flights could also be delayed and even cancelled,” said Airlines for America, whose members include Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and others.
Bad weather could also snarl travel over the long weekend. The National Weather Service on Friday issued a flood look ahead to Latest York, Long Island, and parts of Connecticut and Latest Jersey from an expected storm.
During a federal government shutdown, “essential” staff resembling air traffic controllers and TSA agents work without pay, while many other employees are placed on furlough.
A greater than monthlong shutdown starting in late 2018 ended hours after a shortage of air traffic controllers snarled air travel within the Latest York area.
Absences of air traffic controllers rose this week as the present shutdown stretched into its second week, Bryan Bedford, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, reiterated to staff on Friday.
“Air traffic controllers are still required to report back to work and perform their critical duties. The protection and efficiency of our airspace rely on them,” he said in a note to employees, which was seen by CNBC.
Tuesday will mark the primary partial paycheck for air traffic controllers, and Oct. 28 could be the primary suspended payday, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the controllers’ union, said on Friday.
The union said it plans to start out informational leafleting on Tuesday at Latest York’s LaGuardia Airport concerning the effects of the shutdown on controllers. Similar events are scheduled at other airports in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Philadelphia.
“Participating air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals plan to interact with travelers to clarify how the federal government shutdown introduces unnecessary risk to the National Airspace System (NAS) and is detrimental to efficiency,” the union said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian earlier this week told CNBC that the carrier has thus far not seen “any impacts in any respect” to its operation due to shutdown. Nevertheless, he said that would change if it continued for an additional roughly 10 days.
On Friday, close to three,700 U.S. flights were delayed, based on flight-tracking site FlightAware, below the common day by day rate of about 4,100 for U.S. airlines thus far this 12 months.
