by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:00 AM ET, Wed October 15, 2025
As the government shutdown enters its third week, over 13,000 air traffic controllers and around 50,000 Transportation Security Administration security officers have received their last paycheck on Tuesday, October 14.
According to Reuters, the next few weeks will be critical, and the toll of the air traffic controllers could worsen, with more delays at airports around the country, warned Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. NATCA is advocating for air traffic controllers to remain at work and for the government shutdown to end.
"(The shutdown) introduces a whole new risk in the air traffic control system, when their focus is now moved from the safety and moving 45,000 planes, 3 million passengers, tons of cargo a day into, 'Do I have to get another job? Do I have to start driving Uber on the side?'" said Daniels, in an interview at Reagan Washington National Airport on October 14.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that air traffic controllers who call in sick during the government shutdown—a tactic that, while stalling air travel, has been effective at ending government shutdowns in the past—might be fired. ATC staffing has been at critical lows for over a decade and is about 3,500 controllers short of targeted staffing numbers.
Air traffic controllers who call in sick to work during the shutdown do not get paid sick leave until after the government shutdown ends.
In an interview on Fox Business last week, Duffy warned about “problem children” and said that ATC staffing issues now account for 53 percent of the delays during the shutdown, though that number has not been verified.
"On top of the stress they're already dealing with, in the towers, or in the security lines, they're now wondering how they're going to pay their rent and mortgage," Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer told Reuters at Newark International Airport on Tuesday. "Yet, like so many other government workers are still showing up to keep our country and our economy running."
With that being said, there are approximately the same number of daily delays this week as last week, though many of the delays from earlier this week have been caused by the Nor’easter that rolled through the Northeast this weekend and Monday, snarling air travel due to high winds and low pressure ceilings.
Travelers are advised to head to the airport early during the shutdown, pack their patience and kindness while going through TSA security checkpoints and to monitor their airline communications for any delays or cancellations.
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