Flight operations returned to normal Oct. 7 at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, airport officials reported, after an air traffic controller shortage left the airport with an empty control tower the night before.

From 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 6, air traffic controllers left the tower unmanned as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown.

By midday Oct. 7, the airport reported all flights inbound and outbound were on time at the airport, located about 30 miles north of Los Angeles International, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airport was working to bring in staff and get operations back on track. About a dozen flights were canceled and several were delayed during the gap in staffing.

According to the FAA, officials put in place several measures, including ground delays at airports in other cities. The agency reported that departures at Burbank’s airport were delayed by an average of 151 minutes.

Air traffic control duties were also handed off to Southern California TRACON, a departure team in San Diego, which coordinated with pilots at the airport.

The airport continued operating during the crisis. Pilots were heard on Live ATC coordinating with one another in the air and on the ground while officials scrambled to coordinate tower coverage at the airport, which serves nearly 560,000 passengers a month, according to the latest data.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sympathized with the air traffic controllers, saying they are telling him they may have to find second jobs to pay their bills, he said during an interview on FOX News the day after the Burbank shortage.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Capitol Hill on July 16, 2025. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP Photo)

“We don’t have enough controllers,” Duffy said. “They have to work overtime. … The controllers yesterday were saying ‘we actually have to think about working six days a week, and then do I go take an Uber job and try to make extra money to put the food on the table?’”

Duffy added it would be better for Democrats to pass the temporary budget to get through the next few months while they work out their differences with the Republicans, instead of shutting the government down for a “political fight.”

“Don’t shut it down and affect our airspace and our controllers,” he added. “It’s a huge problem.”

After the Senate again failed to pass bills on Oct. 6 to fund and reopen the government, Gov. Gavin Newsom and his press team blamed President Donald Trump for Burbank’s staff shortage.

“Burbank Airport has zero air traffic controllers from 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. today because of your government shutdown,” Newsom posted on X.

It was unclear whether air traffic controllers were scheduled to cover the Burbank airport during the night hours of Oct. 7. The airport’s media staff did not return a request for information by publication time.

The FAA advised passengers to check its National Airspace System Status website for real-time flight impacts.