As of Wednesday evening, travelers across the United States should brace for significant disruptions. Ongoing staffing shortages, exacerbated by the current government shutdown, are poised to cause considerable delays in flight schedules.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has indicated that at least 17 major airports, from coast to coast, could face delays lasting up to seven hours. The disruptions are expected to commence at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time and may extend into the early hours of Thursday.

On average, passengers could experience wait times of approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. This will impact many of the nation’s busiest travel hubs, including Newark (EWR), JFK, LaGuardia (LGA), Los Angeles (LAX), and Atlanta (ATL).

Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Miami (MIA), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), and both Houston airports (IAH, HOU) are also among those affected. The Washington DC area airports, namely Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD), and Baltimore/Washington International (BWI), are likewise expected to see significant delays.

Other major airports cited in the FAA alert include San Francisco (SFO), Boston (BOS), Seattle (SEA), Denver (DEN), Orlando (MCO), and Salt Lake City (SLC).

To handle the anticipated surge in traffic with a reduced workforce, the FAA will implement a major airspace flow program. This system will strategically manage and space out flights to maintain safety and order when air traffic capacity is strained.

The program affects all flights in the airspace above much of the US, from the ground up to 60,000 feet, meaning both arrivals and departures will be impacted.

Travelers are strongly advised to check with their airlines before heading to the airport and expect extended delays tonight. 

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is one of the locations set to see delays. It experienced disruptions on Tuesday as well (PICTURED)

The FAA warned that delays could linger until at least 12:59am ET on Thursday.

The agency also highlighted EWR as seeing some of the longest wait times.

EWR has been dealing with staffing shortages for most of Wednesday, and is currently experiencing average wait times of 68 minutes.

Flights heading to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are also facing average delays of about three hours and 15 minutes due to unspecified causes, likely linked to nationwide air traffic control staffing shortages. 

Wednesday marks the 36th day of the shutdown, making it the longest in US history. 

The FAA said that roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA agents have been working without pay for weeks.

Before the shutdown, the agency was already grappling with a perpetual shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers.

The delays come as US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that if the federal government shutdown continues another week, it could lead to ‘mass chaos’ and could force him to close some of the national airspace to air traffic, a drastic move that could upend American aviation.

‘If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays,’ Duffy said at a press conference.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said at least 17 airports, from San Francisco to Chicago and New York City (PICTURED), could experience delays of up to seven hours

‘You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it. ‘We will restrict the airspace when we feel it’s unsafe.’

With the standoff in Congress over health care spending set to become the longest in history, Trump’s Republicans and the opposition Democrats are facing increasing pressure to end a crisis that has crippled public services.

This is a developing story.. More updates to come.