Shutdown worsens flight disruptions Delta and United

Flight cancellations surged again on Monday as the longest-ever US government shutdown exacerbated a shortage of air traffic controllers, disrupting air travel from coast to coast.

Air traffic controllers did not receive their second paychecks on Monday during the shutdown, although they are still required to work. Government and union officials have reported that some have taken second jobs to make ends meet.

An indication of how severely the government shutdown has disrupted air travel: According to aviation-data firm Cirium, 2,631 US flights were canceled on Sunday, representing 10% of scheduled flights, the fourth-worst day since January 2024.

In comparison, on Friday morning, when flight reductions mandated by the Trump administration went into effect, cancellations were the 72nd most since early last year.

The Senate made progress overnight on a deal that could end the shutdown, but it has not yet approved a funding bill.

According to Cirium, 1,432 of 25,733 scheduled flights nationwide were canceled on Monday, about 5.5% "and rising." According to FlightAware, the number of disruptions increased over the weekend, with 18,576 flights delayed and 4,519 canceled.

Cancellations spread from regional, short-haul jets—on which America's largest airlines rely for about half of domestic flights—to mainline flights....