Travel nightmare at America's busiest airports as staffing shortages spark widespread flight delays

Air traffic into two of the nation’s busiest airports was disrupted on Tuesday due to staffing shortages, triggering widespread delays across the US. 

At Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW), arrival delays reached up to 63 minutes after the FAA reduced traffic flow because of limited staffing, restricted runway use and sudden pop-up weather. 

Arrivals are being funneled onto just three runways while departures are limited to two, sharply cutting airport capacity during the evening peak. 

At Newark Liberty (EWR), the situation is more severe, with delays climbing to 95 minutes as staffing shortages were compounded by the loss of Runway 22L, which was taken out of service. 

Arrival rates at EWR were slashed to as low as 32 aircraft per hour, affecting flights from nearly every major US region and several Canadian airports.

The FAA indicated that weather was only a minor factor at Newark, with staffing and runway availability driving the disruption. 

Ground stops were lifted, but delays persisted due to ongoing capacity constraints. 

The disruptions come just months after the government shutdown in October, which led to widespread flight delays and staffing disruptions across the nation’s air traffic control system.

DFW is one of the world's busiest airports, handling massive passenger volumes, with over 87.8 million passengers in 2024, making it the world's third busiest.

The airport is expecting nearly 90 million in 2025, averaging over 189,000 travelers daily and projecting even higher numbers for busy periods like during the holidays. 

While final 2025 figures are not out, EWR saw strong recovery and growth in 2025, with August alone hitting 4.5 million passengers, up four percent from 2024.

The New Jersey-based airport sees tens of thousands of travelers daily, with averages around 40,000 passengers and nearly 1,200 daily flights 

However, peak days can exceed 80,000 passengers, especially during summer, serving over 45 airlines with global connections.

At DFW, arrival rates were set at 72 aircraft per hour, with delays applied to all contiguous US departures within a 1,600-mile departure scope, while Canadian departure airports were excluded. 

While EWR's arrival rates are set at 34 to 32 aircraft per hour.

The government shutdown lasted for a historic 43 days, beating the last that hit 35 days in 2018 to 2019. Both occurred while President Donald Trump was in office. 

The shutdown led to widespread delays and cancellations across the country, in addition to FAA-required cancellations, because federal aviation professionals were not being paid. 

This impacted hundreds of thousands of our customers.