Flight delays soar past 1,660 as US shutdown hits 27th day
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WASHINGTON: Air travel turmoil deepened with more than 1,660 flights delayed nationwide on Monday and more than 8,600 delays on Sunday, with air traffic controller absences surging amid a federal government shutdown now in its 27th day.
The Federal Aviation Administration cited staffing shortages affecting flights across the Southeast and at Newark Airport in New Jersey, while the FAA imposed a ground delay at Los Angeles International that delayed flights by an average of 25 minutes.
Southwest Airlines had 45 per cent, or 2,000, of its flights delayed on Sunday, while American Airlines had nearly 1,200, or a third, of its flights delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. United Airlines had 24pc, or 739, of its flights delayed, and Delta Air Lines had 17pc, or 610, of its flights delayed.
A US Department of Transportation official said 44pc of Sunday delays stemmed from controller absence,s up sharply from the usual 5pc. Roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work without pay and will miss their first full pay cheque on Tuesday.
13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security officers may miss their first full pay cheque today
The mounting delays and cancellations are fueling public frustration and intensifying scrutiny of the shutdown’s impact, raising pressure on lawmakers to resolve the budget impasse.
Shutdown data
The federal agencies responsible for indicators of US economic activity, including the Bureau of Labour Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau, have suspended the collection and distribution of nearly all data for the duration of the shutdown.
Much of the data from private-sector sources, however, will continue to be issued, although some of those series rely in part on earlier government reports and will also cease publication during the shutdown. The following is the forward calendar of economic reports that have been scheduled to be issued in the coming days, noting which releases will be suspended should the shutdown still be in effect and which will continue to be issued.
The stakes
This shutdown isn’t your garden-variety gridlock — it’s already the second-longest in history, and neither side looks close to backing down.
It is the first significant shutdown driven by Democrats, and only the second time the government has paused over demands to spend rather than save.
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2025
