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Travel chaos has hit across the US on Wednesday evening as staffing shortages from the ongoing government shutdown have triggered major flight delays. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said at least 17 airports, from San Francisco to Chicago and New York City, could experience delays of up to seven hours lasting into early Thursday. The average wait time is expected to be around 2 hours and 20 minutes. The affected include Newark (EWR), JFK, LaGuardia (LGA), Los Angeles (LAX), Atlanta (ATL), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Miami (MIA), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH, HOU) and Washington DC area (DCA, IAD, BWI). San Francisco (SFO), Boston (BOS), Seattle (SEA), Denver (DEN), Orlando (MCO) and Salt Lake City (SLC) were also noted in the FAA alert. To manage the heavy traffic with fewer controllers, the FAA has implemented a major airspace flow program, a system that controls and spaces out flights when air traffic capacity is limited. The program affects all flights in the airspace above much of the US, from the ground up to 60,000 feet, meaning both arrivals and departures will be impacted. The disruptions hit after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that he would order a 10 percent reduction in scheduled air traffic at 40 major airports starting Friday unless a deal to end the federal government shutdown is reached. The FAA warned that the current delays could linger until at least 12:59am ET on Thursday. The agency also highlighted EWR as seeing some of the longest wait times. Flights heading to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are also facing average delays of about three hours and 15 minutes due to unspecified causes, likely linked to nationwide air traffic control staffing shortages. Wednesday marks the 36th day of the shutdown, making it the longest in US history. 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. Duffy also 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. Airlines have repeatedly urged an end to the shutdown, citing aviation safety risks. Shares of major airlines, including United Airlines and American Airlines, were down about one percent in extended trading. An airline industry group estimated that over 3.2 million passengers have been affected by flight delays or cancellations due to rising air traffic controller absences since the shutdown began on October 1. Airlines have been raising concerns with lawmakers about the impact on operations. While the shutdown has not significantly affected business, airlines have warned that bookings could drop if it drags on. More than 2,100 flights were delayed on Wednesday.
