FAA to Furlough 11,300 Workers During Shutdown

More than 33,500 other employees will continue working without pay.

Zach Vasile

Wednesday, October 01, 2025 at 10:30 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

An FAA agency flag [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA plans to furlough approximately 11,300 workers during the federal government shutdown, while over 33,500 essential employees will remain on the job without pay.
Crucial air safety functions, including air traffic control, aircraft and airport safety inspections, accident investigations, and ATC training, will continue operating.
Non-essential activities such as aviation rulemaking, certain background checks, random drug testing for the nonsafety workforce, and most administrative support functions will be suspended.
The shutdown resulted from Congress's failure to reach an agreement on continuing funding.

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The FAA plans to furlough about 11,300 workers while the federal government is shut down.

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation planning document, 11,332 people at the agency will be furloughed as of Wednesday. It is expected to take about half a day to fully “shut down” the FAA, though in reality it will continue to perform air traffic control (ATC) and other air safety functions.