Congress remains U.S. government shutdown 2025., with no signs of reopening the government for the next few days or weeks. In the meantime, anxious travelers are canceling and airport delays U.S until a resolution is reached. Another holiday weekend is looming, and airports aren’t prepared to deal with travelers: There’s a severe shortage of employees like U.S. air traffic controllers pay and TSA screeners, who remain unpaid while working during the shutdown. Increasing numbers are calling in sick.

“We are deeply concerned about the fact that there will be no federal employees monitoring our airport over the Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day weekend,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of U.S. Travel Association. “That’s the first big holiday travel window since the government shutdown began on October 1, which could not come at a worse time for U.S. airports.”

Columbus Day travel 2025 weekend also coincides with the busy corporate travel season, Freeman added.

“First-time travelers are likely to be especially hesitant if news headlines continue to focus on shutdown-caused delays, TSA staff shortage,” Freeman said in a statement. “Americans will be dissuaded from traveling and the impact on our inbound international visitors will be chilling.”

Not only that: An analysis by U.S. Travel and Oxford Economics says the United States will be the only major travel destination where spending by overseas travelers will decline in 2025. Travel cancellations U.S. will drop by 6.3% to 67.9 million during the forecast period, as growth in domestic travel decelerates to 1.9%.

For those still traveling, the questions continue.

“People are confused. We are getting a lot of calls from people: ‘OK, I want to travel and fly to the U.S. But can we still fly? Will we be allowed in?’” said Peter van Berkel, president of Travalco, a Germany-based inbound tour operator. “It’s difficult now for people from overseas who are booking trips to the U.S. … they are all on hold now until we have more certainty.”