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Flight disruptions from shutdown pile up as Trump threatens air traffic controllers
Flight timings and cancellations are displayed on the departures board, a month into the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 9, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters
Flight cancellations were again piling up on Monday as air traffic controller shortages, worsened by the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown, snarled air travel coast to coast while President Donald Trump threatened to dock air traffic controllers’ pay if they are absent from work.
On Monday, 2,079 of the 25,735 scheduled U.S. flights were canceled, just over 8% of the day’s schedule, according to aviation-data firm Cirium, which noted that on-time departures were better than average, though bad weather impacted airline operations as well.
Last week, the Trump administration ordered airlines to cut domestic flights at 40 major U.S. airports starting with 4% reductions last Friday and ramping up to 10% by this coming Friday, Nov. 14, citing strains on air traffic controllers.
“All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that he would recommend $10,000 bonuses for any air traffic controllers who didn’t take any time off during the shutdown. He said those who don’t immediately return to work would be “docked.”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association in response said that air traffic controllers are “unsung heroes, who report for duty to safely guide this country’s passengers and cargo to their destinations.” The organization said they “deserve our praise” and “have certainly earned it.”
Disruptions over the weekend included 18,576 delayed flights while 4,519 were canceled, according to FlightAware. Cancellations spilled over from regional, short-haul jets — which the largest U.S. airlines rely on for around half of domestic flights — to mainline flying.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines were each offering flight attendants extra pay to pick up flights, according to company messages seen by CNBC. United was also offering pilots extra pay for more flights than it usually does, an airline spokesman said. Such extra pay is common during storms or other disruptions.
American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said Monday that 250,000 of its customers were affected by disruptions over the weekend, with 1,400 cancellations attributed to air traffic control.
“This is simply unacceptable, and everyone deserves better. Our air traffic controllers deserve to be paid and our airline needs to be able to operate at a level of predictability and dependability that no major airline was able to provide the flying public this weekend,” he said in a note to staff that was seen by CNBC.
Airlines were waiving change fees and in some cases, fare differences, depending on when customers could rebook travel. Customers could also request a full refund for the portion of their tickets they were unable to fly.
A sign of how severe air travel disruptions have become during the government shutdown: Sunday’s 2,631 U.S. flight cancellations, 10% of the day’s schedule, marked the fourth-worst day since January 2024, Cirium said.
In comparison, on Friday morning, as Trump administration-mandated flight cuts took effect, cancellations ranked 72nd since the start of last year.
The disruptions that upended the travel plans for hundreds of thousands of travelers forced them to look for alternative transportation. Car rental company Hertz last week reported an increase in one-way demand. There’s also been increased demand for private jet flights in recent days, according to the CEO of charter and fractional ownership company Flexjet.
Though the Trump administration order didn’t initially require private aviation to cut in the same way as commercial airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday began limiting those flights at a dozen U.S. airports. However, many private jet operators don’t use the busiest commercial airports, said the National Business Aviation Association.
Increased strain
Air traffic controllers missed their second paycheck of the shutdown on Monday, though they are still required to work. Some of them have taken second jobs to make ends meet, government and union officials have said.
A commercial airliner takes off past the air traffic control tower at San Diego International Airport during the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown in San Diego, California, U.S., Oct. 1, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
“Now, they must focus on child care instead of traffic flows. Food for their families instead of runway separation,” Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said at a news conference on Monday. “The added stress leads to fatigue, the fatigue has led to the erosion of safety and the increased risk every day that this shutdown drags on.”
The Senate made progress overnight on a deal that could end the shutdown, but it has not yet approved a funding bill.
Daniels said it isn’t yet clear how long it would take for controllers to receive back pay for their work. In the shutdown that ended in 2019, it took about 2½ months before the workers were made whole, he said.
Trump’s comments about air traffic controllers on Monday drew criticism from Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, who called the statement “nuts!” and said it ran counter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s call for aviation workers’ support.
“The women and men working long hours in air traffic control towers to keep the aviation system running deserve our thanks and appreciation, not unhinged attacks on their patriotism,” Larsen said.
An end to the shutdown also doesn’t mean that the flight restrictions will be lifted immediately. The FAA last week said it will determine whether to increase or decrease the flight restrictions based on safety data.
While airlines had little time to make the last-minute schedule changes when the order came out last week, to ramp up flying again they will need time to adjust schedules, sell seats and position planes and crews.
“Airlines’ reduced flight schedules cannot immediately bounce back to full capacity right after the government reopens. It will take time, and there will be residual effects for days,” Airlines for America, the lobbyist for the country’s biggest airlines, said in a statement late Monday. “With the Thanksgiving travel period beginning next week and the busy shipping season around the corner, the time to act is now to help mitigate any further impacts to Americans.”
NEW DELHI: Govt on Saturday significantly increased export duties on diesel and aviation turbine fuel to dissuade oil refiners from exporting these fuels and to ensure adequate availability in the domestic market amid ongoing tensions in West Asia. The ministry of finance issued a series of notifications hiking the export duty on diesel by more than 150% – from Rs 21.5 per litre to Rs 55.5 per litre – with immediate effect. The levy on ATF, or jet fuel, was increased from Rs 29.5 per litre to Rs 42 per litre. The export duty on petrol continues to be nil. Under the revised structure, the special additional excise duty on high-speed diesel has been raised to Rs 24 per litre, while the road and infrastructure cess now stands at Rs 36 per litre, which means a large chunk will now flow to the Centre. Govt said these duties are not meant to boost revenue, but to stop fuel exporters from taking undue advantage of price differences. The Centre had, on March 27, imposed an export duty of Rs 21.5 per litre on diesel and Rs 29.5 per litre on ATF in a bid to check windfall gains, as fuel was in short supply in international markets due to a squeeze on energy supplies amid the military conflict and export curbs imposed by China. It had also slashed excise duty on diesel and petrol to shield consumers and oil companies from the impact of high crude prices. Retail prices of automobile fuels in India have not increased despite high volatility in the international crude market, while only a small part of the international price pressure has been passed on to domestic flights. The windfall tax on exports of diesel and ATF helps the Centre partly offset the impact of the excise duty cut. On March 27, govt had estimated revenue gains from export duties at around Rs 1,500 crore in a fortnight. The further hike in export duties is likely to lead to higher revenue gains. In a statement, the ministry of petroleum had said, “At a time when international diesel prices have surged sharply, the levy is designed to disincentivise exports and ensure that refinery output is directed first tow-ards meeting domestic demand.“
A convoy of vans, lorries, tractors, and even a limousine took part in a slow moving protest around the town centre on Saturday afternoon.
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Stock markets are as turbulent as they have ever been. Those not used to seeing their wealth jump and plunge from day to day might well be wary of trying them out for the first time.
But by investing for the longer term, investors who pick a stocks and sharesISA will almost certainly do better than those who play it safe by holding savings in cash – and they will never pay tax on any earnings.
The average stocks and sharesISA account is worth over £65,000, significantly higher than the typical cash ISA, which holds less than £13,500.
“With UK inflation elevated at around 3 per cent over the past year, it’s not a great time to be sitting on cash, especially given that over the past 12 months, the average stocks and sharesISA grew around 11 per cent, compared to an average return of 3.48 per cent for cash ISAs,” explained Dan Moczulski, eToro UK’s managing director.
With the new tax year’s allowance now in effect – worth £20,000 per person – we asked five experts to pick one fund they would be willing to buy into themselves.
While not recommendations for everybody, they offer food for thought, as well as better diversification and lower risk than buying individual company shares.
Scottish Mortgage FTSE 100
Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC)
Brodie-Smith is going for the Scottish Mortgage FTSE 100 investment trust managed by Baillie Gifford.
This company invests around the world in exciting private companies like SpaceX and Revolut, as well as public-listed companies like Meta, Nvidia and ASML.
Get a free fractional share worth up to £100.
Capital at risk.
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Get a free fractional share worth up to £100.
Capital at risk.
Terms and conditions apply.
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They are aiming to invest in the companies shaping the future – a mix of technology, healthcare, consumer services and more. The trust currently trades on a 5 per cent discount and has low charges of 0.31 per cent. This is an investment trust for long-term investors with a high appetite for risk.
This fund went up 27 per cent in the last year and is up 68 per cent over five years.
iShares Over 15 Years Gilts Index Fund (UK)
Alan Miller, CIO at SCM Direct
This fund tracks the FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts Over 15 Years Index and is therefore a fund investing solely in sterling-denominated UK government bonds, with a minimum remaining maturity of 15 years. It holds 27 gilts, has net assets of £2.95bn, and carries a Morningstar Gold medal.
There are no performance fees and a charge of just 0.1 per cent a year.
Miller says: “One of the most compelling opportunities in the market is hiding in plain sight: UK government bonds.
“Here’s the number that stops people in their tracks: 4.95 per cent compounded over 10 years is a 62 per cent return before charges, backed entirely by the UK government and sheltered from tax inside an ISA.”
Gilt yields are close to multi-decade highs. Locking in a yield to maturity of nearly 5 per cent inside an ISA wrapper, where all income and gains are tax-free, is exceptional by historical standards, and at an ongoing charge of just 0.1 per cent per annum, virtually nothing is lost to fees.
He adds: “Boring has rarely looked this good. It’s the kind of deal most active fund managers can only dream of offering.”
This fund is basically flat over the last year and up 9 per cent over five years. That’s because interest rates have been very low – as they are now higher, it should fare better from here.
Man Income
Paul Agnell, head of investment research, AJ Bell
Of the Man Income fund, Agnell says: “The fund’s pragmatic and analytical managers, Henry Dixon and Jack Barrat, invest in undervalued UK companies across the market cap spectrum, which are paying a yield at least in line with the market. In order to avoid value traps, the managers also look at a firm’s cashflow and assets.”
So, the team seek out undervalued and unloved companies, of which the UK market continues to present opportunities.
Their investment process centres on identifying two types of stocks: those trading below their replacement cost (what it would cost today to replace a company’s assets and operations) that are also cash generative, and those where the market appears to be undervaluing profit streams.
The fund has made an excellent start to 2026, up over 10 per cent in the first two months alone and was up 28 per cent over 2025. Banks were a key contributor over 2025, led by Lloyds, but with strong contributions also coming from Barclays and Standard Chartered.
The charge on the Man Income fund is 0.9 per cent.
Murray International
Philippa Maffioli, Blyth-Richmond Investment Managers
Murray International aims to blend global diversification with a solid income stream. The yield is around 3.5 per cent.
Maffioli says: “I like Murray International’s focus on dependable cashflows and sensible valuations, rather than chasing the highest yield. It also isn’t tied to the UK market, so you’re spreading risk across regions and currencies.”
Day-to-day decisions now sit with Martin Connaghan and Samantha Fitzpatrick, but the approach remains consistent: sustainable income with long-term growth potential. If you reinvest the dividends, it can be a strong compounding option over time.
It charges fees of 0.5 per cent. It is up 36 per cent in the last year and up 60 per cent over five years.
Pantheon Infrastructure Plc
Jonathan Moyes, head of investment research, Wealth Club
Pantheon Infrastructure Plc aims to provide investors with some diversification away from global stock markets while providing the potential for attractive equity-like returns over the longer term.
The FTSE 250 trust co-invests alongside some of the world’s leading infrastructure managers. Its portfolio includes large-scale data centres, gas distribution networks, US renewable energy and storage developers, as well as one of Europe’s leading temperature-controlled logistics and transport businesses.
Moyes says: “These assets are prized for their mission-critical nature and long-term contracted revenue streams. Nonetheless, shares in Pantheon Infrastructure change hands at an attractive 13 per cent discount to net asset value.”
That means the shares in the fund are valued more highly than the actual fund, which means easy wins – if that discount narrows. Trusts’ valuations do not always do so, while others might trade at a premium – in other words, more than the sum of their parts.
Investors should note this is a high-risk investment and should form part of a diversified portfolio. The trust has total ongoing charges of 1.29 per cent. The fund is up 30 per cent in the last year, but is too new for a five-year view.
Depending on which investment platform you use, and like any other fund, there may also be share dealing costs, so look to minimise those where you can so they don’t eat into your long-term returns.
When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
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