FAA grounds hundreds of flights nationwide amid historic government shutdown
The FAA says it’s reducing air traffic by 10% as a safety measure, citing staffing shortages and air traffic controllers missing their second paycheck since the shutdown began.
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The Federal Aviation Administration is grounding hundreds of flights across the country — including dozens in New York — as the government shutdown drags on. At LaGuardia Airport, departure boards are noticeably emptier.
The FAA says it’s reducing air traffic by 10% as a safety measure, citing staffing shortages and air traffic controllers missing their second paycheck since the shutdown began.
Travelers say the ripple effects are already being felt. Azaa Kadraj has been waiting since early this morning for a friend’s flight from Florida — which has been delayed multiple times.
"It's frustrating," she said. "I have traveling plan coming up, hopefully this is figured out soon."
Travelers News 12 spoke with say they got to the airport early to allow extra time. Travelers like Jonathan Lane say he had to scramble to change his plans.
“I’m pissed I don’t like it at all it’s unnecessary. It’s going to piss off a lot of people it’s going to inconvenience a lot of people. It got cancelled and I had to scramble to get another flight me and my wife got separated and she still hasn’t gotten back it’s horrible,” said Lane.
The FAA warns that if staffing doesn’t improve, even more flights could be grounded by Nov. 14. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is expected to meet with airline leaders later today in an effort to prevent a holiday travel crisis.
