A air traveler checks out the flight board to see if his flight was on time, delayed or cancelled at the Jacksonville International Airport Tuesday morning, January 21, 2025.

As the shutdown continues with no off-ramp in sight, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning that travel impacts are likely to get more severe.

"We will delay, we will cancel, any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe," he told ABC News over the weekend. "If the government doesn't open in the next week or two, we'll look back as these were the good days, not the bad days."

So far, flight impacts as a result of the shutdown have been relatively minimal. Many of the delays since the shutdown started have been weather-related, although staffing shortages have triggered isolated delays at some airports as air traffic controllers slowed arrivals rates to keep their flight loads safe and manageable.

Still, as the shutdown continues, flight delays and cancelations could ramp up.

How does the shutdown affect air traffic controllers?

Air traffic controllers and many other Federal Aviation Administration employees are considered essential workers, so they're required to report for duty even though they're not earning paychecks during the government shutdown.

Transportation Security Administration officers are similarly considered essential, and are required to work.

While employees at both agencies are expected to get back pay for the duties they performed once the shutdown ends, many advocates say going weeks without pay puts them under additional stress and can result in them having to find other ways to earn temporary income.

"You've heard the stories of controllers working at an Uber or a DoorDash, a controller who might go to a food bank to help make ends meet," Duffy previously said.

When air traffic controllers or TSA officers don't show up to work, it can result in flight delays and longer security lines.

“Many (air traffic controllers) are already working six days a week, and now they are facing the impossible choice of taking on extra jobs just to feed their families. Meanwhile, Congress is leading us towards what could be the longest shutdown in our nation's history, and introducing risk into an already fragile system," National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels said in a statement Oct. 29.

What else is causing flight delays?

While staffing has caused some isolated delays during the shutdown, even since the government funding taps ran out, it hasn't been a primary driver of flight issues.

"Check the weather," Mike Arnot, a spokesperson for Cirium, an aviation data analytics company, said in a statement on Oct. 31.

Storms, especially strong winds, remain one of the biggest causes of flight delays, even as air traffic controllers deal with the effects of the shutdown.

FAA staff shortages

The FAA has had long-standing staffing shortages, with controllers in many facilities working mandatory overtime to compensate.

The Department of Transportation, under multiple administrations, has attempted to address the shortage but has struggled to attract sufficient numbers of recruits to the air traffic control organization.

Even before the shutdown began, staff shortages occasionally triggered flight delays.

This spring, following a series of equipment failures at Newark Liberty International Airport's control facility, some air traffic control operators took time off to recover from the stress, leading to a spike in delays and cancelations at that airport.

Staff shortages have led to flow control programs to keep flights safe in other areas, too, like the airspace controlled by Jacksonville Center.

The shutdown may contribute to some of these staff issues as controllers need to find other sources of income, but it's not necessarily the root cause of all the staffing-related problems in air travel even now.

What you're entitled to if your flight is delayed or canceled

If your flight is affected by shutdown-related staffing issues, you may not be entitled to much. FAA staffing is seen as outside of an airline’s control, so carriers aren’t on the hook in the same way they would be for delays caused by mechanical issues or other problems on their end.

Still, if your flight is canceled for any reason, including a shortage of air traffic controllers, you’re entitled to a full refund if you choose not to fly on alternative itineraries offered by your airline.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Flight delays could worsen as government shutdown drags on

Reporting by Zach Wichter, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect