The CEO of United Airlines warned that a prolonged government shutdown could erode public trust in aviation safety. It comes during what’s already been a tough year in the skies, including several deadly crashes that made headline news.
Airline leader’s warning
United CEO Scott Kirby warned of the impact during an earnings call on Thursday.
“I think that at least for the first couple of weeks, people thought it was going to get resolved, so they just kind of continued business as usual,” Kirby said, according to CNBC. “But as time goes on, as people read headlines and say, ‘It’s not going to get resolved soon,’ people start to lose confidence in the government and the government’s ability to resolve this. And that’s going to start to impact bookings.”
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Members of the Transportation Security Administration, along with air traffic controllers, are expected to continue working during the shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, despite no longer receiving full paychecks.
Kirby said while United hasn’t seen an impact yet, “every day that goes by, the risk to the U.S. economy grows. So, I hope we will avoid an unforced error here.”
It remains unclear when this shutdown will end.
“I hope our politicians will figure out how to get in a room, compromise and get something done,” Kirby said, according to Reuters.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said his company is not currently seeing impacts from the shutdown, but that could change shortly.
“I would say that if this doesn’t get resolved, say beyond another 10 days or so, you probably will start to see some impacts,” Bastian said in an interview with CNBC.
A U.S. airline trade group also warned of danger, especially when it comes to overworking air traffic controllers.
“It’s got to stop like now, because every day that goes by, the pressures get higher, the risks get higher,” Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, said to Reuters. “You’re getting closer and closer to those air traffic controllers just feeling financial pressures.”
Government shutdown
While TSA agents and air traffic controllers are expected to continue working, there has been some impact on air travel. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said nearly 10% of air traffic controllers are calling in sick every day.
Members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association handed out flyers to fliers earlier this week at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. They said the flyers are part of an awareness campaign to warn travelers the shutdown is putting extra pressure on staffing and safety.
The union asked members not to call out sick.
“NATCA does not endorse, support, or condone any federal employees participating in or endorsing a coordinated activity that negatively affects the capacity of the NAS, or any other activities that undermine the professional image and reputation of the people we represent,” the union said in a statement on its website.
Meanwhile, the shortage caused issues at some airports, including making several go with unmanned air traffic control towers for significant periods of time.
2025 in air travel
Things got off to a tough start for Duffy and the aviation industry in 2025.
Just one day after Duffy was sworn in, 67 people died when an American Airlines flight crashed into a U.S. Army helicopter in the skies of Washington D.C. in January.
Just days later, a medical jet carrying a pediatric patient crashed into a neighborhood in Philadelphia.
Six people died when a sightseeing helicopter went down in the Hudson River near New Jersey in April.
A jet crashed into a neighborhood in San Diego in May, killing three people and damaging nearly a dozen homes.
