With the U.S. government shutdown dragging into its second month, major airlines scrapped over 2,100 flights on Sunday alone. It's all tied to a scramble in Washington that's messing with air traffic control.
The trouble kicked off last week when the Federal Aviation Administration stepped in. They ordered cuts starting at 4% of flights at 40 busy airports. By Sunday, those numbers ballooned, with Delta leading the pack at more than 500 cancellations. American Airlines chimed in too, blaming the chaos on unpaid air traffic controllers who are calling out sick.
This shutdown, now the longest ever at 39 days since October 1, has left those essential workers without checks, stretching the system thin. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who's been blunt about the mess, warned that travel could "slow to a trickle" if talks don't wrap up soon.
Over 4 million passengers already disrupted, and that's before turkey time. Airlines like Southwest and United are trimming routes daily, from Dallas to Boston, to keep things safe amid near-misses in the skies. Unions even sent handwritten pleas to Congress last week, begging for a fix.
It's a reminder that politics doesn't stay in the Capitol—it ripples out to real lives. As bipartisan talks gain momentum this week, hopes rise for smoother skies ahead.
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