Government shutdown leads to air traffic controller shortages in US

Flight delays continued at US airports Sunday amid air traffic controller shortages as the government shutdown entered its second month, with Newark airport in New Jersey experiencing delays of two to three hours, Report informs via AP.

New York City's Emergency Management office said on X that Newark delays often ripple out to the region's other airports.

Travelers flying to, from or through New York "should expect schedule changes, gate holds, and missed connections. Anyone flying today should check flight status before heading to the airport and expect longer waits," the social media post added.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O'Hare were also seeing dozens of delays and one or two cancellations, along with major airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami, according to FlightAware.

As of Sunday evening, FlightAware said there were 4,295 delays and 557 cancellations of flights within, into or out of the US, not all related to controller shortages. In July, before the shutdown, about 69% of flights were on time and 2.5% were canceled.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been warning that travelers will start to see more flight disruptions the longer controllers go without a paycheck.

"We work overtime to make sure the system is safe. And we will slow traffic down, you'll see delays, we'll have flights canceled to make sure the system is safe," Duffy said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

He also said he does not plan to fire air traffic controllers who don't show up for work.

"Again when they're making decisions to feed their families, I'm not going to fire air traffic controllers," Duffy said. "They need support, they need money, they need a paycheck. They don't need to be fired."