Overview
- The FAA logged staffing triggers at 98 facilities from Friday to Sunday, the heaviest wave since the shutdown began, forcing reroutes, rate cuts and delays.
- Newark saw a ground stop and multi-hour delays, with ripple effects across NYC airports, as FlightAware tracked thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations nationwide Sunday.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the department will slow or cancel flights to keep the system safe and would shut U.S. airspace if conditions became unsafe.
- FAA reports nearly 13,000 controllers working without pay, with half of Core 30 sites short-staffed and New York-area absences near 80% on Friday, compounding a preexisting ~3,000-controller gap.
- TSA staffing strains have produced localized multi-hour screening lines, and unions and major airlines are pressing Congress for a clean short-term funding bill.