More than 1,500 flights canceled early Monday after shutdown’s worst day for air travel

More than 1,600 flights had been canceled by US airlines early Monday, and thousands more were delayed as the longest government shutdown in history entered its 41st day — causing travel chaos at some of the nation’s biggest airports.

At America’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, 11% of incoming flights had been axed as of 9 a.m. Monday and 5% of outgoing flights had been canceled — totaling more than 200 flights in total, according to FlightAware.

Chicago’s two airports were also among those hit the hardest, with almost 300 flights in and out of Chicago O’Hare scrapped and more than 100 in and out of Chicago Midway, the data shows.

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More than 2,200 flights within, into or out of the US were also delayed early Monday.

New York City’s major airports, LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and JFK were also dealt serious blows.

More than 120 flights in and out of LaGuardia were canceled as of 9 a.m. Monday, and almost 100 flights in and out of Newark and JFK were nixed.

The ongoing travel nightmare comes a day after travelers experienced the worst day for air travel since the government shutdown on Sunday.

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Almost 3,000 flights were canceled by US airlines Sunday and more than 10,800 were delayed.

Monday marks the fourth day of the FAA’s air traffic staffing reductions, where the agency has been forced to shed 10% of its workers across 40 high-volume airports.

Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since Oct. 1, compounding previously existing staffing shortages.

The major delays are expected to continue and will likely cause a “substantial” number of Americans to miss Thanksgiving with their families, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Sunday.  

Late Sunday night, however, the Senate voted to end debate on a bipartisan deal that would keep the government running through Jan. 30. 2026, with a vote expected in the upper chamber as soon as Monday on final passage of the agreement.

The House is expected to pass it and send it to President Trump’s desk later this week.