Shutdown Over, But General Aviation Faces Lingering Headaches

Reduced ATC services, processing delays, and an IACRA outage continue to affect training and operations.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 10:27 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The FAA says recent IACRA website problem was related to a network issue. [Credit: Meg Godlewski]

Key Takeaways:

Normal operations have resumed across the National Airspace System (NAS) following a 43-day government shutdown, as ordered by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
The shutdown caused significant disruptions, including widespread flight delays and cancellations, extended passenger screening waits due to unpaid air traffic controllers and TSA agents, and reduced ATC services for general aviation.
Additionally, the shutdown led to delays in aircraft registration and medical certificate processing, and a temporary malfunction of the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website created issues for airman certification processes.

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As of 6 a.m. Monday, normal operations resumed across the National Airspace System (NAS) per the order of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

“[The] decision to rescind the order reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns across the NAS and allows us to return to normal operations,” said Bedford, alluding to the end of the government shutdown that lasted 43 days. “I am grateful for the hard work of the FAA safety and operations teams and for their focus on the safety of the traveling public.”