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Senate Moves Toward Shutdown Deal as FAA Flight Caps Keep U.S. Air Travel in Turmoil

Air travel remains constrained by FAA staffing shortfalls despite a Senate step toward reopening the government.

Overview

  • Senators advanced a bipartisan measure to fund the government through January 30 with a separate December vote on health‑care provisions, exposing divisions among Democrats, according to Il Giornale.
  • Roughly 3,000 U.S. flights were canceled Sunday and more than 1,700 on Monday as disruptions mounted across major hubs, Corriere della Sera reported using FlightAware and Cirium data.
  • The FAA ordered safety-driven cuts starting at about 4% from November 7 at 40 busy airports, with deeper reductions planned this week that carriers warn could worsen reliability.
  • Staffing strains intensified as air traffic controllers skipped shifts and retirements accelerated to 15–20 per day from a typical four, with one Atlanta shift missing 18 of 22 scheduled controllers, officials said.
  • President Donald Trump publicly threatened pay penalties for controllers who stayed home and said he would recommend $10,000 bonuses for those who kept working, even as industry losses run near $100 million per day and millions of passengers have been affected since October 1.