Flight schedules and cancellations are posted on the departures board, one month after the start of the U.S. government shutdown, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, United States, November 9, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters
Flight cancellations piled up again Monday as a shortage of air traffic controllers, made worse by the longest U.S. government shutdown, hampered coast-to-coast air travel and President Donald Trump threatened to cut air traffic controllers’ pay if they didn’t show up for work.
As of Monday, 1,432 of 25,733 scheduled flights across the country were canceled, about 5.5% “and rising,” according to aviation data firm Cirium.
Last week, the Trump administration ordered airlines to reduce flights at 40 major U.S. airports, starting with 4% reductions last Friday and increasing to 10% by next Friday, November 14.
“All air traffic controllers need to return to work, NOW!!!,” Trump said in an article on Truth Social, adding that he would recommend $10,000 bonuses to all air traffic controllers who failed to take time off during the shutdown. He said those who did not return to work immediately would be “ostracized.”
Disruptions over the weekend totaled 18,576 delayed flights and 4,519 canceled, according to FlightAware. Cancellations have spread from short-haul regional planes – on which America’s largest airlines depend for about half of domestic flights – to mainline flights.
United Airlines And Delta Airlines each offered extra pay to flight attendants to take flights, according to company posts seen by CNBC. Such additional pay is common during storms or other disruptions. The airlines had no immediate comment.
A sign of how seriously air travel has been disrupted during the government shutdown: Sunday’s 2,631 U.S. flight cancellations, or 10% of the day’s schedule, marked the 4th worst day since January 2024, Cirium said.
By comparison, as of Friday morning, as the Trump administration’s flight reductions took effect, cancellations ranked 72nd since the start of last year.
The disruptions that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of travelers have forced them to seek alternative means of transportation. Car rental company Hertz Last week, there were reports of an increase in demand for one-way rentals. Demand for private jet flights has also increased in recent days, according to the CEO of charter and shared ownership company Flexjet.
Although the Trump administration’s order did not initially require private aviation to face reductions in the same way as commercial airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday began limiting such flights at a dozen U.S. airports. However, many private jet operators don’t use the busiest commercial airports, the National Business Aviation Association said.
Increased pressure
Air traffic controllers missed their second paycheck following the shutdown on Monday, although they are still required to work. Some of them took second jobs to make ends meet, government and union officials said.
“Now they have to focus on child care rather than traffic. Food for their families rather than runway separation,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said at a news conference Monday. “Additional stress leads to fatigue, fatigue has led to the erosion of safety and increased risk every day that this shutdown continues.”
The Senate made progress overnight on a deal that could end the shutdown, but it has yet to approve a funding bill.
Daniels said it was not yet clear how long it would take for controllers to receive back payment for their work. During the shutdown that ended in 2019, it took about two and a half months before workers were restored, he said.
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