Overview
- FAA advisories cited understaffing at key facilities including Philadelphia TRACON Area C, with staffing-related ground delays at Nashville and Austin and traffic restrictions at New York’s JFK, Newark and LaGuardia compounded by high winds.
- Orlando International narrowly avoided a full halt to arrivals after an FAA notice said there would be no certified controllers for a period; average delays there were roughly 2.7 hours with some stretching close to 12 hours.
- Flight-tracking data showed a broad slowdown, with more than 7,000 U.S. flights delayed and about 1,200 canceled on Thursday, and thousands more delays reported Friday across major airports.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said disruptions are likely to intensify into next week, and Vice President J.D. Vance cautioned that the situation could become a disaster if the funding stalemate persists into the holiday period.
- Roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers are working without pay as the FAA operates about 3,500 controllers below target and training is paused, prompting rising sick calls, second jobs for some workers, and public pleas from major airlines to end the shutdown.