President Donald Trump demanded air traffic controllers return to work immediately as flight cancellations spike due to staffing shortages caused by the 41-day federal government shutdown.
Trump warned on social media: “All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked.’ REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY.”
The big picture: Trump pledged to reward controllers who did not take time off during the shutdown and said he would welcome the resignation of those who took leave.
- The shutdown resulted in many federal employees, including air traffic controllers, going unpaid for weeks, leading to absenteeism.
State of play: FAA chief Bryan Bedford reported that 20-40% of controllers were absent on any given day at the 30 largest U.S. airports since the shutdown started.
- Staffing shortages worsened over the weekend, with Saturday being the worst day for air traffic controller attendance since the shutdown began, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
- On Monday alone, over 1,660 U.S. flights were canceled, and delays affected more than 3,300 flights, with disruptions expected to increase as the FAA raises mandatory flight cuts to 10% by Friday.
- FlightAware reported a total of 2,950 cancellations and nearly 10,800 delays on Sunday, marking the worst day for flight disruptions since October 1.
Driving the news: The FAA suspended general aviation traffic at 12 airports, including Chicago O’Hare and Reagan Washington National, because of staffing problems.
- The FAA mandated flight reductions starting last week at major airports—4% initially, rising to 6% on Tuesday, and 10% by November 14—citing air traffic control safety concerns.
