File photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times

 

US air travel faces severe disruption, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning flights could dwindle to "a trickle" amid an ongoing government shutdown. Sunday saw 1,400 flight cancellations and 2,700 delays, with Newark experiencing two-hour waits. Lawmakers are negotiating a potential funding deal to resolve the impasse.

 

The US Senate held a rare Sunday session in search of an agreement. Duffy highlighted the growing threat to air travel, noting it could impede Thanksgiving plans for many travellers. The Federal Aviation Administration, citing controller fatigue, plans a capacity cut of up to 10% at 40 major airports next weekend.

 

Thousands of federal workers remain unpaid, adding strain to services. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's offer of military air traffic controller assistance was declined due to certification issues. Basic services such as food assistance are also affected, with limited benefit payments being issued.

 

Sunday marked the 40th day of the ongoing government shutdown, the longest in US history, as divisions persist over funding. Blame circulates between Republicans and Democrats, each accusing the other of causing disruptions. The White House criticised Democrats for endangering Americans' travels and medical trips.

 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer countered, accusing Republicans of harming livelihoods. Democrats demand health insurance subsidies, while Republicans aim for a 'clean' funding bill. President Donald Trump offers an alternative payment plan for health insurance to individuals.

 

Efforts intensify for a bipartisan Senate compromise with possible votes to break the deadlock on Sunday. As negotiations continue, the potential impact on holiday travel looms large.

 

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• US air travel could face severe cuts amid a governmental stalemate.
• Already, 1,400 flights were cancelled on Sunday with significant delays.
• Senate discussions continue, but federal workers and services are strained.

Related Stories:

US Poll: Most Blame Trump for Ongoing Government Shutdown

Travel Chaos Hits US Airports as Govt Shutdown Grounds Flights

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC 2025-11-10

 

 

Hummm the republicans are in control and can’t even keep the lights on….seems to me that we might need new management ehh?

2 minutes ago, Tug said:

Hummm the republicans are in control and can’t even keep the lights on….seems to me that we might need new management ehh?

seems like the Dems are the ones holding everyone hostage ehh?

1 minute ago, flexomike said:

seems like the Dems are the ones holding everyone hostage ehh?

Naa they just want Americans to have access to affordable healthcare and the hungry to have access to food.The republicans want to kill the ACA and couldn’t care less about hunger in America.thats it it’s that simple.

1 hour ago, Tug said:

Naa they just want Americans to have access to affordable healthcare and the hungry to have access to food.The republicans want to kill the ACA and couldn’t care less about hunger in America.thats it it’s that simple.

 

One would have to be dumber than a box of rocks to believe that the Dems are doing this to benefit US citizens.

Delays and cancellations happen all the time regardless. If you dont like it then stay home

Another one of Trump's success - making Americans angry at their incompetent selfish government.

 

The Thanksgiving holiday and travel plans of the US billionaires are not impacted, that is all that counts for GOP and MAGA morons.

We can only hope for a complete shutdown of air travel service. Perhaps then all those Red Hats that can't get to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving 'might' just realize that voting for trump was a bad idea.  The farmers have already learned their lesson. Now it's time for the general population to begin internalizing just what has been going on.

Remember, this Thanksgiving, many families can't even afford to put on a special dinner. The price of cranberry sauce has already skyrocketed. God only knows how much the turkey costs now. Perhaps this year's 'feast' will be over a small can of Hormel's  'Turkey Spread ' and a can of beans.

On behalf of those folks who will have none this year, Happy Thanksgiving, MAGA. 

29 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

On behalf of those folks who will have none this year, Happy Thanksgiving, MAGA. 

 

Let me ask you this.  How can this shutdown possibly benefit MAGA?

 

I can give you a lot of ways that it benefits Dems...

 

35 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Let me ask you this.  How can this shutdown possibly benefit MAGA?

 

I can give you a lot of ways that it benefits Dems...

 

I'm sure Newsmax and Fox equipped you with many.

18 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

I'm sure Newsmax and Fox equipped you with many.

 

You mean the only MSM outlets that didn't cover up Biden's mental decline?  You may want to tune in occasionally. 

 

I tune into CNN, AP and MSDNC, too.  Then I do web searches to get the other side.

 

Edit:  On an aside, I see the BBC is in trouble now for their lefty slanted coverage.  You just can't trust the MSM any more.  If you ever could...  You have to go down those rabbit holes yourself if you want the whole story.

 

33 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You mean the only MSM outlets that didn't cover up Biden's mental decline?  You may want to tune in occasionally. 

 

I tune into CNN, AP and MSDNC, too.  Then I do web searches to get the other side.

 

Edit:  On an aside, I see the BBC is in trouble now for their lefty slanted coverage.  You just can't trust the MSM any more.  If you ever could...  You have to go down those rabbit holes yourself if you want the whole story.

 

Mainstream media has always been extremely biased.

 

Back in the day when redshirts were occupying the heart of Bangkok, I was watching what my cable operator had... CNN and BBC... and the local TV station from antenna input. Had picture split in half with I think it was Channel 5 or 7 on one side and BBC on the other... I had sound set to BBC. But after a while I got confused. The English speaker was talking about what I was watching on Thai TV channel. I realised the "reporter" was just sitting in hotel room, watching Thai TV and describing what he saw on the screen, rather than being in the field. Then noticed same with CNN. Why bother having local reporters if they just watch TV accessible via satellite across half of Asia, or globally over the internet... At that time, the only foreign station that would have reporters get hands dirty was Al Jazeera... with the nutcase hiding in ditch between warring parties, with camera on a stick showing what was happening around him under some expressway, I think it was Vibhavadi Rangsit... with bullets flying around the camera.

 

But the bigger point was that I was in the middle of all this - just a few 100m from the red camp in front of Central World and could very clearly see where bullets were coming from (although I've moved out of there, that building still has bad fixes to bullet holes on the walls clearly visible)... and they all came from the red camp. So while I am seeing grenades flying into my walls (enjoyed live on TV with about 5 seconds delay with camera pointing into my home) BBC and CNN still insisted that was army aggression on peaceful protesters. Yet every darn bullet and grenade came from "peaceful protesters".

 

My trust in mainstream media was gone a long time ago. But at that time, they were pushing their agenda, which was deviating a bit in their direction. In the recent time, however, these deviations are becoming extreme on all sides, and while before you could watch opposing sides and make a fairly good conclusion on what actually happened (the overlap between both sides), right now there is barely anything in common between the reporting of what has become extreme left and extreme right media.

 

Long story short - I agree.

Posts with derogatory nicknames, intentional misspellings, or personal remarks will be removed. Spell names correctly for all sides of the debate.

I just returned from the US, fortunately my flight left without a hitch, but this is just one of two dozen examples of a nation that is quite broken, facing very hard times, has inflation that continues to rage out of control despite the fake government numbers, and is populated by alot of people who are discontent, bitter, disappointed and very frustrated with their lives. No thanks. Thrilled to be back here, for sure. 

On 11/10/2025 at 7:55 AM, angryguy said:

Delays and cancellations happen all the time regardless.

You note what has been normal in daily airline operations.

Since Trump's regime Part 2, US is not operating in normal times.

The shut downs are artificially caused by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy who caused by firings shortages of air traffic controllers allegedly related to DEI employment and for those still on duty has not paid them for weeks. He considers their unpaid work to be patriotic donations of time to society. 

And airlines will suffer more shutdowns as the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), through its agency the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is actively hiring individuals with no prior air traffic control experience to make up for the experienced air controllers who were fired or quit due to no pay.