After weeks of ground stops and flight delays across airports nationwide due to a severe shortage of air traffic controllers amid the ongoing government shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned today that the worst-case scenario could unfold as early as next week: a partial shutdown of U.S. airspace.
Duffy warned Tuesday that the Department of Transportation may be forced to close parts of U.S. airspace if the government shutdown continues into next week. As of Tuesday, the shutdown has reached 35 days – a record – with little to no indication that Democrats will agree to a clean resolution to reopen the government.
“So if, if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos,” Duffy warned, adding, “You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers.”
Duffy noted that thousands of controllers have already missed paychecks, and another $0 pay stub is expected later this week. He said many cannot afford to continue working unpaid, leading to widespread absences, which have triggered ground stops at airports almost daily at this point.
🚨 “If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you WILL see mass chaos,” says @SecDuffy as the Democrat Shutdown means air traffic controllers are about to miss another paycheck.
“You may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it.” pic.twitter.com/CkU98hd3fN
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 4, 2025
FAA data shows that about 13,000 air traffic controllers are currently working without pay. The federal agency warned that 80% of the staff in the New York metro area had called out.
On Tuesday afternoon, more than 2,450 flights traveling within, to, and out of the U.S. were delayed, and over 91 were canceled, according to data from FlightAware.
Last week, airline heads blasted Democrats on the government shutdown, urging the party of crazed leftists to back the Republican-led clean CR. Those airline bosses include:
United CEO Scott Kirby, speaking from the White House alongside Vice President J.D. Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, called for passage of a “clean CR”—the House GOP’s stopgap funding bill that would reopen the government without new spending measures.
American, Delta, and Southwest joined United in supporting an immediate extension of current spending levels, warning that the situation was untenable as air-traffic controllers and TSA staff continue to work without pay.
Southwest spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said the public “expects and deserves to travel in a system where safety and security employees are paid in a timely fashion.”
Besides airlines, the American Federation of Government Employees, representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers, also urged Democrats to back the GOP’s clean-CR.
Anyone planning to travel by plane next week should prepare for widespread delays and cancellations if the shutdown is not resolved by the end of this week.
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