By JOSH FUNK, Associated Press

The ongoing government shutdown continues to disrupt flights at times and put pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay .

Flights were delayed Thursday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, New Jersey’s Newark airport and Washington’s Reagan National Airport because of air traffic controller shortages . The number of flight delays for any reason nationwide spiked to 6,158 Thursday after hovering around 4,000 a day earlier in the week, according to FlightAware.com.

Many Federal Aviation Administration facilities are so critically short on controllers that just a few absences can cause disruptions, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that more air traffic controllers have been calling in sick since the shutdown began. Earl

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