US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that parts of American airspace may have to be shut down if air traffic controllers continue missing work amid the ongoing government shutdown. On Sunday, more than 5,000 flights were delayed, with waiting times stretching to over four hours. ABC reported that workers, who have been working without pay, have started calling in sick, disrupting flight operations.
“If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos,” Duffy said at a news conference on Tuesday. “You’ll see mass flight delays, mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it — we don’t have the air traffic controllers.”
✈️😡 Airport Mayhem as Government Shutdown Drags On!
— Md.Minul Islam Rony (@mdmi_rony) November 4, 2025
Long lines, angry passengers, and flights delayed for hours! 😤 The U.S. government shutdown has hit airports hard — TSA agents and air traffic controllers aren’t being paid, forcing many to skip work. Could ruin Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/GCDEK7g3Nu
DOT warns of airspace closure if shutdown drags on
The current situation for air traffic controllers has caused several operational disruptions. According to a CNN report, the workers received a partial paycheck at the start of the shutdown but missed their last one completely. Duffy said that on Thursday, many will get another paystub, this time showing $0. “Many of these controllers cannot go without two paychecks,” he said. “I can’t just go find money and pay air traffic controllers. That’s not how our Constitution or our government works.”
Like TSA officers, air traffic controllers are considered essential federal employees and must continue working even when the government is closed. But the burnout is not hidden. staff shortages at both the FAA and TSA caused long security lines in Houston and flight delays across the country last week.
‘More risk in the system’ as staff shortage worsens
Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation hired 2,000 new controllers to fix what Duffy decades-long staffing shortage. But the current shutdown is threatening that progress. “These young people have a choice to make,” Duffy said. “Do they want to go into a profession where they can have a shutdown and not get paid? That’s affecting our pipeline.”
He added that safety remains the top priority, and if the airspace isn’t safe, it will be closed. “We delay flights, we cancel or tell airlines to cancel flights if we don’t have enough controllers to manage the skies safely,” Duffy said. “With this shutdown, it would be dishonest to say that more risk is not injected into the system. There is more risk in the system.”
“We delay flights, we cancel or tell airlines to cancel flights if we don’t have enough controllers to manage the skies safely,” Duffy said. “With this shutdown, it would be dishonest to say that more risk is not injected into the system. There is more risk in the system.” Duffy added that some controllers have been forced to handle two positions at once, which is allowed but adds pressure and increases the chance of errors.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the situation is deteriorating each day the shutdown continues. “Every single day that this goes on, tomorrow is now less safe than today,” said Nick Daniels, the union’s president, in an interview with CNN. “We’re supposed to go to work and be 100%, 100% of the time. But right now, I’m heading to work, wondering how I’m going to pay my rent.”
