Transportation secretary says he doesn’t plan to fire air traffic controllers who don’t show up for work

Newark’s Office of Emergency Management said on X that delays in Newark often affect other airports in the area.

The social media post added that travelers traveling to, from, or through New York “should expect schedule changes, gate closures, and missed flights. Anyone traveling today should check flight status before heading to the airport and expect a longer wait.”

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O’Hare saw dozens of delays and one or two flight cancellations, along with major airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami, according to FlightAware.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that travelers will start to see more flight disruptions the longer flight controllers remain without pay.

“We’re working overtime to make sure the system is safe. We’ll slow down traffic, you’ll see delays, we’ll cancel flights to make sure the system is safe,” Duffy said on CBS’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.

He also said he has no plans to fire air traffic controllers who don’t show up for work.

“Again, when they’re making decisions to feed their families, I’m not going to fire air traffic controllers,” Duffy said. “They need support, they need money, they need a paycheck. They don’t need to be fired.”

Earlier in October, Duffy warned air traffic controllers who called in sick rather than work without pay during the lockdown they risked being fired. Even a small number of controllers not showing up for work causes problems because the FAA has a severe shortage of them.

Nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay for weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.

Staff shortages can occur at regional control centers managing multiple airports and at individual airport towers, but do not always result in flight disruptions. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, flight data showed strong on-time performance at most major U.S. airports for October despite isolated staffing issues throughout the month.

Before the shutdown, the FAA was already dealing with a long-term shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers.