U.S. Faces Worst Air travel chaos of shutdown: 10,000 Delays, 3,200 cancellations hit passengers

It is being called the worst single-day disruption for U.S. air travel all because of the present current federal government shutdown.

The nation experienced over 10,000 flight delays and over 3,200 cancellations by Sunday night as per international media.

As per data compiled by flight-tracking service FlightAware, flights departing, arriving or overflying the U.S. airspace were hit.

Some of the busiest hubs in the country were disturbed and experienced operational strains.

Delta Air Lines reported that 52 % of its main-line flights were affected by the recent incident. Their flights were delayed or cancelled causing a major crisis.

The situation got all the more chaotic because travellers not being able to fly.

But the question here is why such a travel crisis in the U.S. As per reports, there was staffing shortages among air traffic controllers and other critical federal aviation staff, exacerbated by the shutdown of government funding.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated a 4 % cut in flights at 40 major U.S. airports beginning last Friday, with plans to escalate the reduction to 10 % or more if the shutdown continues.

On the other hand, many air traffic controllers and screening officers from the Transportation Security Administration have been working without pay. It has led to increased absenteeism.

There are more retirements taking place. It has created more pressure on an already stressed air-traffic network.

The U.S. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy warned that elsewhere in the system up to 20 % of flights might be cut if the staffing shortfall deepens.