Air traffic controllers miss first paychecks
A person rides an electric scooter past the air traffic control tower at Reagan Washington National Airport as the U.S. government shutdown continues in Arlington, Virginia, United States, October 8, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
U.S. air traffic controllers missed their first full paychecks on Tuesday since the government shutdown began at the beginning of the month, while the Department of Transportation said flight delays have increased due to staffing shortages.
Controllers are facing increasing financial stress and it is becoming harder to recruit much-needed workers, union officials and Transport Minister Sean Duffy said on Tuesday. Air traffic controllers and airport security guards are among the employees required to work as essential workers during the shutdown, even though they do not receive regular wages.
“The problems are increasing every day,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said at a press conference at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Duffy told reporters that 44 percent of Sunday’s flight delays and about 24 percent on Monday were due to air traffic controller staffing, compared with about 5 percent of delays so far this year.
US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy holds a press conference on the impact of the government shutdown on air travel at LaGuardia Airport in the Queens borough of New York City, USA, on October 28, 2025.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Duffy also said the closure was hurting the government’s air traffic training and recruitment, and that some funds for trainee salaries were “on the verge of being depleted”.
Air traffic controller union officials said some members drive on ride-hailing platforms and do other jobs to make ends meet.
Union members, including its president, plan to hand out leaflets and speak to the public at various airports across the U.S. on Tuesday, urging travelers to push Congress to end the closure.
The government shutdown, now in its fourth week, has raised concerns about additional pressure on the U.S. air traffic control system, which has been straining both airlines and passengers for years due to staffing shortages.
Flights earlier this month were delayed at many U.S. airports, but they have yet to experience the serious disruptions that preceded the end of the longest shutdown between late 2018 and early 2019.
