The impacts of the ongoing government shutdown have reached the wealthiest fliers.
As of midnight Monday ET, the Federal Aviation Administration has restricted most general aviation flights, including private jets, at 12 major US airports due to air traffic controller callouts.
That means jet owners, charter operators, and other business aviation companies cannot fly in or out of those hubs.
Ed Bolen, the CEO of the National Business Aviation Association, the private aviation industry’s main lobbying group, said in a Monday statement that the move is “disproportionately impacting general aviation.” General aviation encompasses flights that are not part of scheduled airline service, like private flying, pilot training, and sightseeing.
Bolen said the industry “creates more than a million jobs, generates $340 billion in economic impact, and supports humanitarian flights every day.” The NBAA said limited exceptions will remain in place for medical flights, firefighting, law enforcement, emergency operations, military missions, and other FAA-authorized flights.
The affected airports include:
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
- Denver International Airport
- Boston Logan International Airport
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport
- Los Angeles International Airport
- New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in DC
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Air traffic controllers are in their 41st day of working without pay and recently received their second $0 paycheck since the shutdown began on October 1.
Commercial flights have also been disrupted. The FAA cut 10% of scheduled airline flights across 40 US airports on Friday to relieve the workload of short-staffed air traffic facilities.
Private aircraft can try to avoid the chaos by flying to smaller nearby airports, but that may not help passengers who need to connect to long-haul international airline flights at the major hubs.
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Private flights are also being affected by hourslong airport takeoff lines, as business jets must wait in the same queues as passenger airlines.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday that travelers could face mass delays and cancellations over Thanksgiving if the shutdown continues.
He said there were 81 staffing triggers on Saturday, when about 1,200 flights — roughly 7% of scheduled departures — were canceled, according to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium.
Staffing triggers occur when staffing levels dip below safety thresholds, prompting the FAA to slow airport traffic. More than 2,600 flights were canceled on Sunday, around 10%, and by 7:30 a.m. Monday, another roughly 1,400 flights had already been canceled, or about 5.5%.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, President Donald Trump criticized controllers who called out during the shutdown and suggested a $10,000 bonus for those who report to work.
The Senate advanced a bill on Sunday aimed at ending the shutdown, but it still needs to pass the House and be signed into law by the president.