Flying throughout a shutdown? How FAA and TSA operations might change.

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TSA has beforehand warned that an prolonged shutdown might imply longer wait instances for the roughly 2.5 million each day passengers.

• Essential FAA and TSA staff proceed to work throughout a authorities shutdown, however with out pay.
• A chronic shutdown might result in longer safety traces and potential flight schedule reductions.
• During the 2025 shutdown, the DOT ordered airways to scale back flights by as much as 10% to ease the pressure on air visitors management.

Just months after Congress averted the final shutdown, lawmakers hit one other wall at midnight on Jan. 31 after failing to move the total slate of funding payments by the Jan. 30 deadline.

On Friday, the Senate authorized a seamless decision to maintain Department of Homeland Security funded for 2 extra weeks whereas the remainder of the federal government will get full-year funding, however that deal now waits within the House, which is in recess and received’t vote till Monday on the earliest. If the House rejects the plan or delays motion, the shutdown might stretch past the weekend, although most appropriators nonetheless count on a comparatively brief closure given the bipartisan momentum earlier than the deadline.

During the final authorities shutdown, which lasted 43 days, making it the longest in U.S. historical past, airways have been ordered to scale back their flight schedules by as much as 10% at 40 main airports.

That extraordinary measure was taken after air visitors controllers have been working with out pay for over a month, resulting in pressure on the air visitors system. Many air visitors controllers and different important staff wanted to discover a strategy to bridge the monetary hole after lacking a number of paychecks.

Some vacationers might already be noticing a excessive variety of flight disruptions on Saturday, Jan. 31, however that is unrelated to the potential shutdown. Airlines preemptively canceled flights forward of Winter Storm Gianna, which is predicted to pound the East Coast with heavy snow and damaging winds over weekend.

Here’s why your air journey plans aren’t more likely to be affected instantly throughout this authorities shuts down.

Are flights affected by a authorities shutdown?

No, or at the least not immediately. 

FAA and TSA staff who carry out important capabilities associated to flight security proceed working throughout a shutdown. Still, the longer a shutdown lasts, the extra seemingly they’re to should miss work.

During the 2025 shutdown, the Department of Transportation ordered airways to scale back their flight schedules by as much as 10%, serving to ease the workload on overtaxed and understaffed air visitors management towers, which led to days of complications for vacationers. 

It’s not but clear when, how, or whether or not flights will probably be affected by the most recent shutdown. USA TODAY reached out to the Department of Transportation to ask about plans within the occasion of a shutdown.

Does TSA nonetheless function throughout a shutdown?

Yes, TSA staff who carry out duties comparable to screening at airport safety checkpoints are thought-about important and can preserve working throughout a shutdown. But if the shutdown is extended for an prolonged interval, you might encounter longer traces and wait instances.

“While TSA is prepared to continue screening about 2.5M passengers a day, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” the company stated in a post on X final 12 months. “We kindly ask for our passengers’ patience during this time.”

Contributing: Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY