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Travelers at three major US airports are facing hours-long delays on Tuesday as staffing shortages worsen on the 35th day of the government shutdown. According to multiple flight alerts, the Houston and Phoenix air traffic centers implemented Ground Delay Programs, effectively slowing the rate of arrivals to prevent overload in the control system. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the delays are primarily due to 'staffing' shortages, with some flights facing up to nearly three-hour waits before takeoff or landing clearance. At Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), the FAA set the arrival rate at just 40 flights per hour, compared to typical peak rates closer to 70. The advisory lists average delays of 40 minutes and maximums topping one hour and 40 minutes, stretching across all major departure zones in the US. At nearby William P Hobby Airport (HOU), the situation is even worse, with the FAA limiting arrivals to only 16 flights per hour and maximum delays nearing three hours. The restrictions apply to flights departing from every major regional control center in the contiguous US, meaning ripple effects could extend far beyond Texas. In Phoenix, controllers at Sky Harbor International Airport are also slowing incoming flights. The FAA set a rate of 40 arrivals per hour, citing the same staffing shortage. Average delays are hovering around 45 minutes, with some flights waiting over an hour and a half to land. The programs are in place through the early hours of Wednesday morning, potentially affecting hundreds of flights nationwide. The FAA said that roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA agents have been working without pay for weeks. Before the shutdown, the agency was already grappling with a perpetual shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. The delays come as US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that if the federal government shutdown continues another week, it could lead to 'mass chaos' and could force him to close some of the national airspace to air traffic, a drastic move that could upend American aviation. 'If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays,' Duffy said at a press conference. 'You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it. 'We will restrict the airspace when we feel it's unsafe.' With the standoff in Congress over health care spending set to become the longest in history, Trump's Republicans and the opposition Democrats are facing increasing pressure to end a crisis that has crippled public services. Airport workers calling in sick rather than working without pay, leading to significant delays, was a major factor in President Donald Trump bringing an end to the 2019 shutdown, the joint-longest alongside the current stoppage, at 35 days. After five weeks of failed votes on a House-passed resolution to reopen the government, the Senate rejected the legislation for a 14th time on Tuesday. Democrats say the only path to reopening the government is a Trump-led negotiation over their demands to extend subsidies that make health insurance affordable for millions of Americans, the key sticking point in the standoff. But Trump has insisted he won't negotiate with Democrats until the shutdown is over
