Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warns of 'mass chaos' in skies if
shutdown continues
[November 05, 2025]
By JOSH FUNK
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted Tuesday that there could
be chaos in the skies next week if the government shutdown drags on and
air traffic controllers miss a second paycheck.
There have already been numerous delays at airports across the country —
sometimes hours long — because the Federal Aviation Administration slows
down or stops traffic temporarily anytime it is short on controllers.
Last weekend saw some of the worst staff shortages and on Sunday,
flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were
delayed for several hours.
Duffy and the head of the air traffic controllers union have both warned
that the situation will only get worse the longer the shutdown continues
and the financial pressure continues to grow on people who are forced to
work without pay. FAA employees already missed one paycheck on Oct. 28.
Their next payday is scheduled for next Tuesday.
“Many of the controllers said ‘A lot of us can navigate missing one
paycheck. Not everybody, but a lot of us can. None of us can manage
missing two paychecks,’” Duffy said. “So if you bring us to a week from
today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight
delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain
parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t
have air traffic controllers.”
Most of the flight disruptions so far during the shutdown have been
isolated and temporary. But if delays become more widespread and start
to ripple throughout the system, the pressure will mount on Congress to
reach an agreement to end the shutdown.
It's difficult to predict how much worse the situation will get once
controllers miss a second paycheck. The impact of the staff shortages
could also be magnified if controllers coordinated a large effort to
call out sick across a certain region of the country. Both the National
Air Traffic Controllers Association and Duffy have urged controllers not
to consider that and continue reporting to work.
Mike McCormick, who used to oversee air traffic control for the FAA
before he retired and is now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University, said closing down part of the airspace and forcing planes to
fly around an area is routinely done when there is a major thunderstorm.
The FAA may also close down part of the airspace if it is short on
controllers at one of its regional radar centers that directs planes
flying at high altitude across the country. This move is very similar to
a ground delay program that FAA uses at an airport when it is short on
controllers there or encounters an equipment failure.
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks alongside Vice President
JD Vance about the impact of the government shutdown on the aviation
industry, outside of the West Wing of the White House, Thursday,
Oct. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Major airlines, aviation unions and the travel industry have been
urging Congress to end this shutdown as soon as possible by voting
to support the clean funding resolution that Republicans have
proposed.
The U.S. Travel Association said in a letter to Congressional
leaders this week that the economy has already lost more than $4
billion because of the shutdown, and the industry worries the impact
will get significantly worse if the shutdown continues into the
holiday travel season.
“With Thanksgiving, the busiest travel period of the year,
imminently approaching, the consequences of a continued shutdown
will be immediate, deeply felt by millions of American travelers,
and economically devastating to communities in every state,” the
U.S. Travel Association said.
Normally, airlines strive to have at least 80% of their flights
depart and arrive within 15 minutes of when they are scheduled.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that since the shutdown began on
Oct. 1, the total number of delays overall has not fallen
significantly below that goal because most of the disruptions so far
have been no worse than what happens when a major thunderstorm moves
across an airport.
But on Sunday, only about 56% of Newark's departures were on time,
and the Orlando airport reported that only about 70% of its flights
were on time, according to Cirium.
As of midday Tuesday, there have been 1,932 flight delays reported
across the United States, according to www.FlightAware.com. That is
lower than what is typical although the FAA did say that flights in
Phoenix were being delayed Tuesday morning because of staffing
shortages. Strong winds are also causing delays at the Newark and
LaGuardia airports Tuesday.
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