US shutdown: Flight delays reported across major airports; pilots manage operations without controllers

Flight delays continued across the United States for a second straight day on Tuesday, as the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) warned that staffing shortages linked to the ongoing government shutdown are disrupting operations nationwide.

The shutdown, now in its seventh day, has caused widespread delays and cancellations, affecting travelers across the country.

The FAA reported flight delays at airports including Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville, Houston, Chicago, and Las Vegas due to air traffic controller shortages. These disruptions follow slowdowns at Denver, Phoenix, Burbank, and Newark during the first day controllers worked without pay amid the shutdown.

The number of domestic and international flight delays has risen sharply in recent days, with over 6,000 delays reported on Monday compared to around 3,000 on Saturday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. As of Tuesday morning, just over 1,000 delays were recorded for flights within, into, or out of the United States.

Despite ongoing delays, the FAA had not implemented a "staffing trigger" on Tuesday to limit flights at airports facing controller shortages, as cited by NBC News.

Staffing shortages cause delays

FAA operations plans mentioned that the approach and departure facilities for Houston, Newark, and Las Vegas, as well as those serving Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Dallas, will have insufficient controllers for at least part of Tuesday evening.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is expected to operate with a reduced number of air traffic controllers for nine hours on Tuesday night. As one of the nation’s busiest airports, handling over 1,000 flights daily, O’Hare experienced average ground delays of 41 minutes for evening departures, as reported by CNN.

In Nashville, the airport’s approach facility, responsible for guiding planes in and out, was closed for five hours Tuesday night. Flights bound for the airport had to coordinate with a regional air traffic control center in Memphis, with ground delays expected to average two hours.

Both of Houston’s major airports, Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental, are expected to experience ground delays due to the staffing shortage.

Pilots manage flights without controllers, using CTAF

When scheduled air traffic controllers stayed home at Burbank, California, on Monday, pilots had to manage the airport themselves, communicating directly over the radio to safely coordinate maneuvers and approaches, CNN reported.

Flights relied on a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) to report their positions and intentions. While CTAF allows pilots to communicate when no control tower is available, it is typically used at much smaller airports.

“Southwest 1591, we’re about to cross runway eight on (taxiway) alpha and then we’ll take a left turn on (taxiway) Delta,” a Boeing 737 pilot announced.

During the nearly six-hour shutdown of Burbank’s control tower, 37 flights took off and 33 landed, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Using CTAF to maintain safe distances between aircraft added extra time, resulting in delays of more than two and a half hours for Burbank flights on Monday.