Overview
- This past weekend was the worst for air traffic control staffing since the shutdown began, with 98 FAA facilities hitting “staffing triggers” that required reroutes and slower flows, according to FAA plans analyzed by CNN.
- Newark operated under a ground delay program that at times capped arrivals at about 20 per hour, producing average waits of roughly two to three hours and warnings that a full ground stop could be needed.
- Flight-tracking tallies showed thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations on Sunday as ripple effects stretched across major hubs including New York, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA will delay or cancel flights to preserve safety and warned disruptions will worsen if funding is not restored, adding he does not intend to fire controllers who miss work.
- The FAA reports half of its Core 30 facilities are short-staffed and nearly 80% of controllers were absent at New York–area facilities on Friday, compounding a preexisting shortfall of roughly 3,000 controllers.