Overview

• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said staffing-related delays have surged to roughly 53% of all delays versus about 5% historically and warned repeat absentees could be dismissed and not paid for missed time.
• Since Monday there have been about 19,000 flight delays, including roughly 3,300 on Thursday, with thousands tied to FAA flow restrictions triggered by controller absences.
• The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has urged members to keep working and noted that coordinated job actions are illegal, while DOT says about 90% to 95% of controllers are reporting despite no current pay.
• Roughly 13,000 controllers and 50,000 TSA officers are working without pay and due a partial paycheck next week, as facilities report shortages that included an unmanned Burbank tower earlier in the week and delays at Denver and Washington National.
• The Trump administration began running airport videos blaming Democrats for the funding lapse, while officials emphasize safety-first slowdowns that further depress capacity during the nine-day shutdown.