Air travel across the United States faced major disruptions on Monday, with airlines canceling nearly 2,100 flights, according to data from analytics firm Cirium as of 6:15 p.m. Eastern Time (2:15 a.m. Tuesday Moscow time). In total, about 25,700 flights had been scheduled for the day.
The heaviest impact was felt at airports in the Midwest and Northeast. At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where snow blanketed runways, roughly a quarter of all scheduled flights were canceled. Boston Logan International Airport saw more than 16% of its flights canceled, while New York’s LaGuardia Airport reported about 15% cancellations.
Delta Air Lines alone canceled around 490 flights out of 5,000 scheduled.
According to FlightAware, over the weekend, airlines in the U.S. had already canceled more than 4,500 flights and delayed over 17,000, as the travel network struggled with both weather and staffing shortages.
Adding to the turmoil, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began reducing capacity at 40 of the country’s busiest airports last Friday, citing staff shortages in air traffic control towers and centers caused by the ongoing government shutdown. The cuts will reach 6% by Tuesday, 8% by Thursday, and 10% by Friday — affecting domestic flights only.
Since October 1, U.S. air traffic controllers have not been paid due to the shutdown. “Fatigue has led to an erosion of safety and increased daily risk,” said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), in comments to Bloomberg.
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that controllers skipping work would face significant pay cuts unless they returned to duty, while those continuing to work could receive $10,000 bonuses.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the median annual salary for air traffic controllers last year was $144,580.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently said that even before the shutdown, the FAA faced a staffing shortage of about 2,000 controllers nationwide.
Late Monday night, the U.S. Senate passed a procedural measure to end the government shutdown, with final passage of a revised funding bill expected in the coming days. Once approved, airlines will need 12 to 36 hours to return operations to normal, according to Bob Mann, head of consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. and former American Airlines executive.
