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Air travel turmoil deepened with more than 4,300 flights delayed nationwide on Monday following more than 8,800 delays on Sunday, with air traffic controller absences surging as the federal government shutdown reached its 27th day. The Federal Aviation Administration cited staffing shortages affecting flights across the Southeast and at Newark Airport in New Jersey, while the agency imposed a ground stop at Austin Airport in Texas and a ground delay programme at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport that delayed flights by an average of 18 minutes. Southwest Airlines had 47 per cent, or 2,089, of its flights delayed on Sunday, while American Airlines had 1,277, or 36 per cent, of its flights delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. United Airlines had 27 per cent, or 807, of its flights delayed and Delta Air Lines had 21 per cent, or 725, of its flights delayed. Roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers must work without pay. The Trump administration has warned that flight disruptions will increase as controllers miss their first full pay cheque on Tuesday. On Monday, Southwest had 24 per cent of flights delayed, American 18 per cent and Delta 13 per cent, according to FlightAware. A US Transport Department official said 44 per cent of Sunday’s delays stemmed from controller absences – up sharply from the usual 5 per cent. The mounting delays and cancellations are fuelling public frustration and intensifying scrutiny of the shutdown’s impact, raising pressure on lawmakers to resolve the budget impasse. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy was in Cleveland meeting controllers on Monday, while the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union is planning events at numerous airports on Tuesday to highlight the first missed pay cheque. The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown. In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed pay cheques, extending waiting times at some airport checkpoints. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington. Meanwhile, federal funds that help tens of millions of Americans buy food for their families and send their toddlers to preschool could begin running dry on Saturday if Congress does not reach a deal by then to end the government shutdown. Funding for another programme that helps mothers care for their newborns could run out the following week. Barring a resolution to the shutdown, the US will have a gaping hole in its safety net, particularly for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme, which helps about one in eight Americans to buy groceries. Benefits under the programme known as SNAP run out from Saturday. Funding for a group of Head Start preschool programmes and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Programme for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, also could run out soon. Additional reporting by Associated Press
