Travelers across the United States faced a fresh wave of flight cancellations and delays on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, as the ongoing government shutdown continued to wreak havoc on the nation’s air travel system. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), more than 1,200 flights were canceled and over 2,600 delayed on Tuesday alone, with the agency limiting capacity at 40 major airports in an effort to manage mounting safety and staffing concerns. The disruptions, which began in earnest the previous Friday, have only intensified as the shutdown drags into its sixth week, leaving air traffic controllers unpaid for 42 days and travelers scrambling for alternatives.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did not mince words during a press conference on Tuesday, warning that if the government remains shuttered into the weekend, the situation could deteriorate even further. "If the government doesn't open, it's going to radically slow down," Duffy said, as reported by ABC News. "If this doesn't open, you might have airlines that say, 'We're going to ground our planes.' That's how serious this is." Duffy noted that flight reductions had already climbed to 6% and could exceed 10% by the weekend, a level that would cripple air travel just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday rush.
The FAA’s move to cut flights was a direct response to shortages in air traffic controller staffing, which have reached a critical point after more than a month without pay. The agency cited a worrying uptick in runway incursions, pilot complaints about controller performance, and instances of planes flying too close together as key safety data points that forced its hand. Duffy emphasized that flight restrictions would only be lifted "when the data says we should," underscoring that safety, not convenience, was driving the decision-making process.
Major U.S. carriers have been hit unevenly by the chaos. Delta Air Lines canceled more than 300 flights on Monday and had already scrubbed over 90 more by Tuesday morning, according to figures from multiple news outlets including CBS News. Southwest Airlines passengers faced the brunt of delays, with over 1,600 Southwest flights delayed on Monday and nearly 2,000 on Sunday. By 10 a.m. Tuesday, Southwest had canceled more than 150 flights, the most among top carriers. United Airlines, meanwhile, managed to keep its cancellations to a minimum, a point not lost on its CEO Scott Kirby, who praised employees for their "extraordinary performance" under pressure. "It's clear that the way that you have come together to take care of our customers has made an impact," Kirby wrote in a company-wide letter, as reported by CBS News.
Travelers themselves described scenes of utter confusion and frustration. At Newark Liberty International Airport, Anna Marie Hopkins recounted, "It was just mass chaos, sitting in chairs for like 13 hours." Others, like Cindy Orr, noted tempers flaring as passengers tried to rebook or find alternate routes. Some, such as Rick Baldwin, booked the earliest flights of the day in hopes of escaping the worst of the delays, while others abandoned air travel altogether and switched to buses or trains to reach their destinations.
The cascading effects of the FAA’s flight cuts have rippled beyond the major hubs. Norfolk International Airport, though not directly targeted by the FAA’s order, still saw indirect impacts with 21 delays and six outright cancellations on Tuesday. Top destinations from Norfolk—including Washington, D.C., New York, and Orlando—were all experiencing significant disruptions. Travelers reported delays that stretched from two to four hours, jeopardizing connections to international flights and upending carefully laid plans. Aviation expert Justin Steele advised travelers to double-check their flight status and consider purchasing a backup ticket if missing an event was not an option, though he acknowledged this was an expensive workaround.
Compounding the operational woes, wintry weather swept across parts of the country on Monday and Tuesday, contributing to the spike in cancellations, particularly at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. O’Hare alone saw more than 300 cancellations on Monday due in part to heavy snowfall, and both airports continued to lead the nation in canceled flights into Tuesday.
As the shutdown stretched into its sixth week, tensions between political leaders and federal workers intensified. President Donald Trump took to social media on Monday, threatening air traffic controllers who failed to report for duty with pay cuts, writing, "All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn't will be substantially 'docked.'" He also floated the idea of a $10,000 bonus for those who worked through the shutdown, though specifics remained unclear. Transportation Secretary Duffy backed the bonus proposal, calling it "brilliant" and inviting eligible controllers to the White House. But Nick Daniels, president of the air traffic controllers’ union, pushed back, stating, "Controllers should not be the political pawn during a government shutdown." Daniels added, "Air traffic controllers have continued to show up during this shutdown. They've endured the longest shutdown in American history, and every single day, they absolutely, not only deserve their pay, they deserve to be recognized for what's going on."
On Capitol Hill, the political standoff showed little sign of immediate resolution. Duffy warned after meeting with controllers at O’Hare that, "We are not going to get to Thanksgiving. You're going to see this Friday, Saturday and Sunday," if a funding bill isn’t passed. He added that even if the government reopened immediately, normal flight operations would not resume overnight. Controllers would receive 70% of their back pay within 24 to 48 hours of reopening, with the remainder coming about a week later. But Duffy cautioned that the logistical challenges of repositioning aircraft and crews, as well as lingering staffing shortages, would mean delays and cancellations could persist for days or even weeks after the shutdown ends.
Despite the turmoil, there were glimmers of operational resilience. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that, on Tuesday, more than 89% of flights left within 15 minutes of their scheduled times—a marked improvement over Monday’s 63% on-time rate. Still, with over 5.2 million passengers affected since the shutdown began on October 1, and the Thanksgiving travel period looming, the stakes for both travelers and the aviation industry could not be higher.
As the week progresses, all eyes remain on Congress and the White House for a breakthrough, with millions of Americans hoping for a return to normalcy in the skies before the busiest travel season of the year descends. Until then, patience, flexibility, and a close eye on flight status updates are the order of the day for anyone planning to fly.
