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 the end of a 43-day government shutdown, which had caused significant staffing concerns.
The shutdown led to widespread disruptions, including flight delays and cancellations at the airline level due to unpaid ATCs and TSA agents, and reduced services for general aviation.
Additionally, the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website experienced a temporary outage, complicating airman certification processes, though it was quickly restored and paper applications remain a valid backup.

See a mistake? Contact us.

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.”