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Travelers are facing hourslong delays at Texas airports as the federal government shutdown drags on and continues to spawn shortages of air traffic controllers and airport security workers.

Passengers at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport are experiencing three hour wait times Monday, according to the Houston Airport System. The Federal Aviation Administration announced a ground delay at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Monday afternoon due to staffing issues. And Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport had experienced more delays and cancellations Monday than all but one other airport in the country, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

Monday’s issues followed a weekend of scheduling woes at Texas’ two largest airports. On Sunday, 23% of all flights from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 32% of flights from Bush Intercontinental Airport were delayed, according to FlightAware.

Airports problems have accelerated as the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, has gone on and led to missed paychecks for airport personnel, including air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration agents. While those workers are expected to continue on the job without pay, air traffic controllers have increasingly called in sick, which the Federal Aviation Administration said was “straining staffing levels at multiple facilities” for a workforce that already faced a shortage before the shutdown.

“After 31 days without pay, air traffic controllers are under immense stress and fatigue,” the agency said in a statement Friday. “The shutdown must end so that these controllers receive the pay they’ve earned and travelers can avoid further disruptions and delays.”

The government shut down at midnight on Oct. 1 when members of Congress failed to reach an agreement to keep funding federal agencies beyond the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Republicans voted for a stopgap resolution to fund the government at its current level through mid-November, while Democrats supported an effort to extend enhanced premium tax credits — a subsidy for Affordable Care Act premiums that expires at the end of the year — as part of the spending bill.

Democrats have said Congress needs to address the looming subsidy expiration — which has already spiked 2026 health insurance premiums — while Republicans say the government needs to open before they negotiate on health care. Many GOP lawmakers, including from Texas, have said they want to significantly reform the tax credits or revert them to their pre-expansion form.

In the meantime, airport leaders have advised travelers to arrive earlier than normal for flights and stressed that an end to the shutdown is the only remedy.

“The federal government shutdown has impacted TSA staffing and operations nationwide, and Houston Airports is doing everything possible to support our TSA partners and keep passengers moving safely and efficiently,” Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the Houston Airport System, said in a statement Sunday. “We ask that passengers continue to arrive early and expect extended security wait times until the federal government shutdown is resolved.”

In an interview with CBS, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that air travel delays are “only going to get worse” as long as the shutdown continues and federal employees increasingly call in sick.

“We work overtime to make sure the system is safe,” Duffy said. “And we will slow traffic down, you’ll see delays, we’ll have flights canceled to make sure the system is safe.”

On Wednesday, the shutdown will reach the 35-day mark, which would make this spending impasse tied for the longest in U.S. history. The deadlock threatens to extend into Thanksgiving, when airports typically see their busiest days.

As the shutdown continues, Dallas Love Field announced a donation drive at the airport for federal employees working without pay. Corpus Christi International Airport and El Paso International Airport held similar drives last month.

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