The government shutdown is strangling aviation
TL;DR
The US government shutdown is causing major aviation disruptions, with over 6,000 daily flight delays, longer security lines, and air traffic control outages.
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In May, The Verge reported that the US aviation system was so fragile that "the smallest disruption can throw the entire system into chaos." That disruption arrived on October 1st, when the federal government shut down over a budget dispute. Chaos has indeed ensued.
More than 6,000 flights are being delayed every day, nearly twice the historical average for October according to Department of Transportation statistics. The TSA has warned of longer security lines at airports and has stopped updating real-time checkpoint information on its MyTSA app. Some major airports have even been forced to operate without air traffic control for hours at …