The US Federal Aviation Administration has delayed flights for a third day at airports including Reagan Washington National and Newark Liberty International Airport as the agency continued to face higher-than-normal staffing shortages.

There were nearly 3000 flight delays on Wednesday after 10,000 delays in total on Monday and Tuesday with thousands tied to the FAA slowing flights because of air traffic controller absences at facilities across the country as the government shutdown reached its eighth day.

Some flights at Reagan were being forced to hold in the air due to a slowdown in air traffic, the FAA said.

Air traffic control staffing issues during this shutdown have emerged earlier than the last major halt to government funding in 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term,

See Full Page