Flight delays aren’t slowing down despite move to end shutdown

The government shutdown that has caused widespread flight delays for weeks may soon be coming to an end, but the travel nightmare caused by the political chaos in Washington showed no signs of abating on Monday.

A day after senators approved a tentative agreement to end the impasse, now in its 41st day, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would continue to restrict commercial flights in and out of some of the nation's busiest airports.

As of Monday morning, more than 1,400 flights had been canceled out of more than 25,000 scheduled, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. More than 2,600 flights were canceled on Sunday, about 10% of all scheduled flights. It is unclear how many flights were scheduled to be canceled due to the closure and how many were due to other reasons, such as weather.

Scheduled flight cancellations are expected to increase to 6% on Tuesday, up from an initial 4% that began on Friday.

Lolita Honkpo, who returned to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Monday after her flight to Atlanta was canceled on Sunday, said she was fed up with the government shutdown and that it was time to make “every person in power feel uncomfortable about it.”

“I think people should name their members of Congress at this point,” Honkpo said.

Airports where the FAA restricted flights on Monday include Chicago O'Hare International Airport; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; Boston Logan International Airport; Los Angeles International Airport; Dallas Fort Worth International Airport; George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston; Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas; Denver International Airport; and two of the three major airports in the New York metropolitan area.

All airports have since suffered from staff shortages. air traffic controllers worked for free due to shutdown.

Supervisors are considered essential workers and are not allowed to leave their jobs, even if they are not paid.

Airports across the country have reported staff shortages and flight delays since the government shutdown began.

President Donald Trump in post Monday on Truth Socialthreatened to withhold pay from air traffic controllers who missed work and said he would recommend a $10,000 bonus to those who did not take time off.

“To those who did nothing but complain and took time off when everyone knew they would be paid in FULL in the near future: I AM NOT SHAPPY WITH YOU,” Trump wrote.

Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, who has steadfastly defended air traffic controllers during the crisis, called his members “unsung heroes” during a news conference Monday.

“They are doing everything they can to maintain the integrity of this system and serve the American public during these difficult times. 41 days without pay is unacceptable,” Daniels said. “Air traffic controllers should not be a political pawn during a government shutdown.”

Responding to Trump's post, Daniels said, “I will accept anything that recognizes these hard-working men and women, but we will work with the administration on any issues that arise.”

“Air traffic controllers will continue to show up during the shutdown,” he said. “They've lived through the longest shutdown in American history, and every single day they absolutely, not only deserve their paychecks, they deserve recognition for what's happening, so we'll be working with the administration on that.”