Air traffic controller shortages amid shutdown disrupt U.S. flights

Thousands of U.S. flights were delayed and several major airports briefly halted departures this week as staffing shortages among air traffic controllers intensified amid a federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1. The Federal Aviation Administration said the shortages forced ground stops, ground delay programs and slowed traffic into hubs including Los Angeles, Newark, Reagan National, LaGuardia, Austin, Dallas and Chicago.

Flight-tracking data showed a surge in disruptions: more than 8,000 delays were recorded on Sunday and roughly 7,000 on Monday, with daily totals fluctuating but consistently well above typical levels. The FAA said planes bound for Los Angeles were held at their origin on Sunday morning while staffing gaps at a Southern California facility were addressed, producing average delays of more than an hour. Newark, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth also experienced programmatic slowdowns that added minutes to average arrival and departure times.

The immediate cause is that about 13,000 air traffic controllers and roughly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers are classified as essential and have been required to work without pay during the funding...