Flights are still getting kneecapped by shutdown cuts and weather

Flights are still getting kneecapped by shutdown cuts and weather

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Tuesday that flight disruptions could skyrocket in the coming days if the House does not vote to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Speaking at a news conference at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Duffy urged lawmakers to approve a bipartisan bill to reopen the government. "If the House doesn't act, I think we'll see more than 10% disruption — and possibly airlines grounding planes altogether," he said. "That's how serious this is."

As of Tuesday night, FlightAware data showed more than 1,200 cancellations and over 3,600 delays for flights within, into, or out of the United States. That followed more than 2,400 cancellations on Monday and over 14,000 total disruptions on Sunday. The FAA's required flight cuts rose to 6% from 4% at 40 major airports on Tuesday, with reductions set to hit 8% on Thursday and 10% on Friday. Duffy said he would reduce cuts as safety allows, adding the pace would depend on air traffic controllers returning to work. Staffing issues improved Tuesday — just four were reported, down from 81 on Saturday.

The story was published November 11, 2025, and updated November 12, 2025.

Gobble's Take: When the best-case scenario is a phased crawl back to normal, travelers are already doing the math nobody wanted to do.

Source: USA Today

The weekend travel mess was already enormous before Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

FlightAware data showed 1,025 cancellations on Friday and 1,566 on Saturday, then 2,954 on Sunday and 2,422 on Monday. The earlier stretch included more than 2,400 cancellations Monday and more than 14,000 total disruptions on Sunday, while Monday’s pain was compounded by a Chicago-area winter storm.

Gobble's Take: At this point, even the bad-news numbers need their own boarding group.
Source: USA Today

Airports are shrinking operations, and the fallout is spreading beyond flyers

Airports are reducing flights, and some control towers have gone dark, according to the fact pack. It also says more than 13,000 air traffic controllers have been required to work without pay, and the US economy has reportedly lost $4.2 billion in visitor spending as the shutdown drags on.

Gobble's Take: When control towers go dark and flights get cut, the traveler headache comes with a side of everyone-else’s headache too.
Source: Substack

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