Overview
- Roughly 11,000 to 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 TSA officers worked this week without pay after missing their first full paychecks.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said controller staffing caused 44% of delays on Sunday and about 24% on Monday, far above the typical 5% share this year.
- Operational strain produced concrete disruptions, including a 75‑minute staffing‑related ground stop at Newark on Wednesday and weather‑compounded ground stops at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark on Thursday with delays topping three hours.
- The FAA is slowing traffic and occasionally stopping departures to preserve safety, with effects varying by facility as a preexisting controller shortfall of roughly 3,000 magnifies the impact.
- NATCA members handed out leaflets at about 20 airports urging an end to the shutdown as airlines and airports offered stopgap support such as food for control towers and staff shifts to help TSA checkpoints.