Will My Flight Be Delayed During the Shutdown? Here's How to Check

Travelers across the U.S. are feeling the effects of the government shutdown as air traffic controllers are calling out sick, said the nation’s top transportation official.

At a Monday press conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there has already been a small uptick in controllers — essential federal employees who are required to work without pay throughout the shutdown — calling out sick in a few places.

Hollywood Burbank Airport’s air traffic control tower sat empty on Monday evening, reported the New York Times. Flight management at Burbank was instead performed by workers at the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control in San Diego, resulting in average incoming delays of around two and a half hours.

On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration reported more staffing issues at airports in Nashville, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia, and at its air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Is our airspace unsafe? No, but if we think there’s issues with the airspace, we will shut it down – we will close it down, we will delay,” Duffy said.

• Jump straight to: How to check what’s happening at your airport

An FAA spokesperson confirmed “increased staffing shortages across the system” to KQED. In this event, “the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations.”

During the last government shutdown in 2018 and 2019, air traffic controllers calling in sick caused widespread flight delays and cancellations.

This hasn’t played out in major Bay Area airports yet. On Monday, a spokesperson for San Francisco International Airport said it hadn’t “received any such reports locally” when it came to staffing issues. The spokesperson also attributed any delays seen at SFO on Wednesday to weather.

An Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport spokesperson told KQED Monday the airport didn’t expect “any screening or air traffic control services to be interrupted” due to the shutdown. At San José Mineta International Airport, “it’s business as usual,” a spokesperson said.

Keep reading for how to make sure you’re aware of any flight delays that might affect your upcoming journey — at either your point of departure or your destination — during the government shutdown.

Check your airport with the FAA’s National Airspace System Status tool

The FAA’s National Airspace System Status site allows passengers to see “active airport events” that might affect their flight — including staffing issues and weather.

The tool only uses three-letter airport codes, so make sure you know the code for the airport you’re departing and arriving from (i.e., “SFO” for San Francisco International Airport).

You can also use the FAA’s map view of affected airports.

Keep a watchful eye on your flight’s status

If you haven’t already, sign up for email or text alerts direct from your airline so you’re informed about possible delays or cancellations as soon as possible.

You can also check the status of your flight on each airport’s website. In the Bay Area, use:

• SFO Flight Status 
• OAK Flight Status
• SJC Flight Status

Googling your flight number — for example, “UA246” for United flight 246 — will also show you a live flight tracker, using data from flight data company OAG.

Check live TSA wait times (where you can)

TSA employees are federal workers who, like air traffic controllers, are generally working without pay through the shutdown. A TSA spokesperson told KQED last week that around 61,000 of the agency’s 64,000 employees are considered essential, “and TSA will continue operations to keep the traveling public safe” — with the agency’s remaining employees temporarily furloughed.

“While TSA is prepared to continue screening about 2.5M passengers a day, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” warned the spokesperson. As KQED has reported during previous shutdown threats, this does raise the possibility that these staff may call in sick, potentially causing delays.

The TSA’s own MyTSA app usually tracks wait times at airports around the United States. However, a message on the app’s homepage said that “this website will not be actively managed” during the shutdown.

While SFO, OAK and SJC don’t publish security wait times on their sites, some other airports do — for example, like JFK International Airport — so it’s worth checking your departure airport’s website before you fly.

(And a reminder that if you’re flying out of SFO, any long security lines you find yourself in won’t actually be due to the shutdown — because a private company under contract with TSA does SFO’s bagging and screening, and these workers will continue to be paid during the shutdown.)

Using small rural airports? Be especially vigilant for delays

Many small rural airports around the U.S. are subsidized by the Essential Air Service program, which supports airline service to small communities.

But if the shutdown continues, “that money runs out this Sunday,” warned Secretary Duffy on Tuesday.

The program is especially important in Alaska, where flying is the only way to travel between many communities. In California, these small airports include Crescent City, El Centro and Merced.

If your journey relies on connections between smaller airports, be especially on the lookout for delays or cancellations.

This story contains reporting from The Associated Press and KQED’s Ted Goldberg.