The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been forced to issue a ground stop at Newark airport over a staffing shortage caused by the government shutdown.
The advisory issued at 3.32pm ET says that the ground delay program – which halts flights at their origin – will be in effect until at least 10.59pm.
The maximum delay is 87 minutes and the average is 40 minutes, according to the FAA, with the cause listed as ‘staffing.’
The government shutdown means that 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers aren’t being paid, causing huge increases in sick days and absences.
ATC workers and TSA agents are considered essential, required to work despite not receiving paychecks. During shutdowns, absenteeism rises as many struggle to afford gas and childcare.
Experts warn the staffing shortages risk triggering a safety spiral as fatigue and stress are increased.
The crisis is deepening as the shutdown enters its 29th day, the second-longest in history and closing in on the 35-day record.
More than 3,000 flights were beset by delays around the nation today, with around 150 cancellations, as the impasse between Republicans and Democrats raged on.
United Airlines planes are seen at the tarmac at Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., May 7
Newark is among the worst offenders. The nation’s eighth busiest airport has suffered from staffing and technology challenges since well before the shutdown.
Traders on online prediction markets like Kalshi are betting the government shutdown will last 47 days — just short of the Thanksgiving travel rush.
Flight delays soared to 8,600 on Sunday, with around 44 percent attributed to ATC staffing issues — compared to the usual 5 percent.
The scandal continued on Monday as nearly 7,000 flights were delayed — well above the 5,000-flight average.
‘The shutdown increases both fatigue and stress – therefore, the likelihood of human error increases,’ Randy Klatt of the Foundation for Aviation Safety told the Daily Mail. ‘Near misses become more likely, as do disasters.’
As many employees take on second jobs and deal with the pressures of not being paid, staffing levels at some air traffic control towers have dropped to 50 percent of what they should be, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
‘My job is to keep the airspace safe. And so, if I don’t feel like I have enough controllers or enough controllers that are focused, we will slow down traffic, we will stop traffic,’ Duffy said in a press conference earlier this week.
Pleading with congress to end the shutdown, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Nick Daniels called the lack of pay a dangerous distraction to staff.
Air traffic controller and single dad Jack Criss (pictured) told CBS he has had to take on DoorDash shifts on top of his job to get by amid the shutdown
Pictured: Travelers rest while waiting for their flights in Terminal B at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (pictured) has warned that staffing levels at some air traffic control towers have dropped to 50 percent of what they should be
‘Every day that this shutdown drags on, the system becomes less safe,’ he warned during a press conference.
Fully-qualified air traffic controllers starting salaries range from $60,000 to $130,000, according to FlyingMag. Salaries max out at around $175,000, but air traffic controllers can earn more by doing overtime.
Jack Criss, an air traffic controller who has had to work DoorDash delivery shifts on top of his job to get by, has described the strain the shutdown has placed on him and his colleagues.
‘It is hard enough just going to work,’ Criss told CBS. ‘Now, when you add not getting paid, that’s when you just like multiply the level of pressure. And you know, air traffic is a safety sensitive position. The margin of error is zero.’
Speaking to the New York Post earlier this month, another air traffic controller said: ‘The financial anxiety doesn’t just hurt morale; it directly affects safety.
‘When someone responsible for thousands of lives a day is worrying about whether they can pay rent or feed their kids, focus suffers. Sometimes that small moment where your mind is elsewhere can have serious impacts.’
The Trump administration has warned flight disruptions will increase as controllers missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday.
The mounting delays and cancellations are fueling public frustration and intensifying scrutiny of the shutdown’s impact, raising pressure on lawmakers to resolve the standoff.
Duffy was in Cleveland meeting with controllers on Monday, while the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union held events at numerous airports on Tuesday to highlight the first missed paycheck.
During an appearance on the Fox News program ‘Sunday Morning Futures,’ Duffy said more controllers were calling in sick as money worries compound the stress of an already challenging job.
‘Just yesterday, … we had 22 staffing triggers. That’s one of the highest that we have seen in the system since the shutdown began. And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin,’ he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that ATC workers are ‘forced’ to take on second jobs like ‘driving for Uber’ in order to ‘make ends meet’.
In January, a US Army Black Hawk helicopter smashed into an American Airlines jet over the Potomac river, killing 67 people
In February, a Delta plane crash-landed and flipped over (pictured) at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Incredibly, all 80 people on board survived
‘With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, we are nearing the busiest travel period of the entire year, when millions of Americans will go to airports to spend time with their loved ones,’ Leavitt said on Thursday.
‘If the Democrats continue to keep the government closed we fear there will be significant flight delays, disruptions and cancellations in major airports across the country this holiday season.’
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day workweeks even before the shutdown.
In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending wait times at some airport checkpoints. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington.
Terrifying past incidents serve as a warning for what could happen if controllers lose focus or stop showing up.
In August 2023, a Southwest Airlines passenger plane and private jet came within 100ft of each other on the runway at San Diego International Airport, a recent safety report stated.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that both the controller managing the aircraft and their supervisor made ‘bad choices’ that diverted their attention from the landing procedure.
Disaster was only averted when the airport’s automated tracking system warned the controller and the private jet quickly circled before landing without incident.
Across the US in 2024, there were 1,474 recorded runway incursions – incidents ‘involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person’ on a runway – and 2023 had a total of 1,777, an average of five per day.
While plane crashes are exceptionally rare, high-profile incidents this year have shaken consumer confidence and highlighted the importance of aviation safety.
In January, a US Army Black Hawk helicopter smashed into an American Airlines jet over the Potomac river, killing 67 people. It was the deadliest US airline crash in more than two decades.
Then, in February, a Delta plane crash-landed and flipped over at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. All 80 people on board survived.
Neither of the crashes are believed to have been caused by air traffic control error and both are still being investigated.