The U.S. government has been shut down for 15 days, and as Americans await decisions from top policymakers to fund and reopen the government, air travel has felt some early ripple effects as a result of the federal impasse.
From furloughed essential workers staffed at airports without pay to air traffic controllers calling out sick, here are some details and answers for travelers who may be worried about the impact of the shutdown.
Across the country, flight delays have been building at multiple airports due to air traffic controller shortages.
Air traffic controllers are considered essential workers and are exempt from being furloughed during the shutdown, and as a result, more than 13,000 are expected to work without pay for the duration, according to the Department of Transportation.
Some controllers have called in sick during the shutdown, leading to delays and reduced flights in order to ensure airport towers and control facilities can space out and safely handle air traffic.
Air traffic controllers are warning of the potential impact of a prolonged shutdown, not just when it comes to possible travel delays, but for safety in the skies.
"This introduces a new risk to aviation. Air-traffic controllers are supposed to mitigate risk," Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said.
Peter LeFevre, an air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., told ABC News, "It's just very difficult. Not knowing exactly how I'm going to have child care for my kids or put gas in the car or pay the next mortgage payment adds a certain level of stress onto an already stressful profession."
Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles County dropped to zero air traffic controllers on Monday, forcing the tower to close for several hours and pass off traffic to a San Diego facility, according to Federal Aviation Administration documents. As a result, flights were delayed an average of 2.5 hours.
The tower at Nashville International Airport in Tennessee had extremely limited staffing Tuesday evening, causing the airport to hand off traffic to the Memphis air traffic control center.
Nashville issued a temporary ground stop, which caused flight delays upwards of two hours.
Other ATC facilities experiencing similar impacts include Las Vegas, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Denver.
The FAA has addressed issues including air traffic controller staffing and has shared information about real-time flight impacts like ground stops due to external factors, but has not directly addressed the shutdown itself, except to note on its website that "portions of the Department of Transportation are currently in shutdown/furlough status due to a lapse in appropriations."
"There have been increased staffing shortages across the system. When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations," the agency said previously, in a statement to ABC News.
Click here to read more from the FAA.
While some U.S. travelers experienced TSA delays during the last government shutdown, as of time of publication, there has not been a direct impact on TSA wait times.
Those with flights during the shutdown period should continue to check for the latest real-time information from their airline via their carrier's app or website, as well as on the websites of their departure and arrival airports.
ABC News' Ayesha Ali, Sam Sweeney and Clara McMichael contributed to this report.
An earlier version of this story was first published Oct. 8, 2025.
