WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 1: Commuters cross the street near the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) headquarters on October 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. Congress could not agree on a budget to fund government at midnight, causing the first shutdown since 2018. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
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The FAA has posted an ‘Emergency’ notification on its website following the U.S. Government shutdown.
The message is brief, “Portions of the Department of Transportation are currently in shutdown/furlough status due to a lapse in appropriations.” The agency states it will post “updates on the USDOT’s operating status,” but no updates had been posted at the time of writing.
Reuters reported before the shutdown that the FAA expected to furlough 11,000 employees, about 25% of its workforce, due to the freeze in funding.
Air Traffic Controllers And TSA Will Continue Working
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 01: U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy holds a news conference about adding more air traffic controllers to the workforce at the DOT headquarters on May 01, 2025 in Washington, DC. Counter to the Trump Administration’s historic layoffs of federal workers, Duffy announced incentives to train new air traffic controllers and to retain controllers that may be close to retirement. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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While the FAA has declared an emergency, critical aviation safety and security functions will continue. Around 13,000 air traffic controllers are expected to continue to work through the shutdown, though they will not be paid until it is resolved.
The approximately 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees posted at airport security checkpoints will also be required to work without pay.
A Setback For The National Airspace Management System
The shutdown comes as the USDOT and the FAA are working to improve an outdated National Airspace Management system in need of technological improvements and adequate staffing levels.
The FAA recently marked a milestone in its target to bring more air traffic controllers onboard, with 2,000 hired already this year, but it is still short 3,500 fully certified controllers. Major airport hubs around the country are often managed with fewer controllers than recommended.
Air traffic disruptions, when the reduced staffing levels combine with system failures, can lead to a watershed of cancelled flights and delays that spread around the country. For example, earlier this year, a radio communications outage at the air traffic control facility in Philadelphia, responsible for managing air traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport, combined with a shortage of controllers (after 20% took trauma leave due to job pressures) and ongoing construction at the airport restricting runway access, led to an ATC meltdown that caused delays and cancellations of over a thousand flights.
ATC Shortage Linked To Previous Government Shutdown
In its Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, the FAA reported that the current shortage of air traffic controllers was linked to repeated interruptions of the “multi-year process” of training new hires over the past 12 years.
“Any disruptions can have significant, long-term impacts on future controller staffing levels,” the FAA stated. “For more than a decade, several major factors and events slowed the FAA’s hiring plans. In FY 2013, the government-wide discretionary sequester cut agencies’ budgets and forced the FAA to institute a prolonged hiring freeze. Just as controller staffing was on its way to recovery, in FY 2019, the FAA was impacted by a 35-day government shutdown that also resulted in large hiring and training delays. Hiring and training were again substantially disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Controller staffing recovery would benefit from uninterrupted hiring and training activities.”
NTSB Also Impacted By Government Shutdown
The shutdown is also affecting the National Transportation Safety Board with around 25% of its 400 employees furloughed. However, the agency has stated it will still be able to cover accident investigations, including any involving aircraft.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2025/10/01/faa-posts-emergency-notification-following-us-government-shutdown/
