The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered 13 partial airport closures, including at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
The closure is not affecting commercial flights. Officials at Sky Harbor say passengers should continue to check with airlines about FAA-related delays or cancellations.
Just shy of 500 flights out of Sky Harbor Airport had been delayed or canceled on Monday afternoon.
Affected by the closure are private jets, law-enforcement flights and military aircraft.
President and CEO Ed Bolen of the National Business Aviation Association said in a statement that these restrictions will “effectively prohibit business aviation and disproportionately impacts general aviation.” He said the industry creates more than 1 million jobs and generates $340 billion in economic impact.
Air travelers should expect worsening cancellations and delays this week even if the government shutdown ends, as the FAA moves ahead with deeper cuts to flights at 40 major U.S. airports, officials said Monday.
After a weekend that saw thousands of flights canceled, including almost 3,000 on Sunday alone, airlines scrapped another 1,700 flights Monday and nearly 1,000 for Tuesday. Some air traffic controllers — unpaid for nearly a month — have stopped showing up, citing the added stress and need to take second jobs.
Air traffic controllers have been unpaid for nearly a month. The head of the controllers union said they are being used as a “political pawn” in the fight over the shutdown. President Donald Trump pressured controllers via social media to “get back to work, NOW!!!”
Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights to comply with the order to eliminate 4% of flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. That figure will rise to 6% on Tuesday and reach 10% by week's end, the FAA says.
Already, travelers are growing angry.
“All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and it’s 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” said Todd Walker, whose flight from San Francisco to Washington state was canceled over the weekend, causing him to miss his mom’s 80th birthday party.
About 10% of all flights nationwide were canceled Sunday, making it the fourth worst day for cancellations since January 2024, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Even the relatively modest 4% cuts at major airports ripple across the system when planes and crews fall out of position for their next flights.
-
Sen. Ruben Gallego is calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to cancel plans to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs. -
In November, HUD announced deep cuts to permanent housing programs for people experiencing homelessness. They wanted to shift the money to transitional programs with work or service requirements. -
Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful. -
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs says she won’t give in to the Trump administration’s threat to withhold SNAP funding unless states hand over data about the program’s recipients. -
Kyle Wilkerson, program coordinator for air traffic control at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, joined The Show to talk more about how the shutdown affected Arizona controllers.
