FAA is delaying Nashville flights on Halloween. Here's why

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay for Nashville International Airport on Oct. 31, citing a shortage of air traffic controllers in the BNA tower amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.

Aircrafts with a destination of Nashville will be delayed at their departure airport for up to two hours, the FAA said in an advisory issued just before the delay was implemented. The ground delay will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 4:59 p.m. on Halloween.

Icelandair planes its at the Nashville International Airport in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, April 10, 2025.

The ground delay is a tactic meant to limit the total number of flights entering Nashville airspace at any given time, which allows fewer air traffic controllers to manage incoming and outgoing planes.

"Travelers are advised to monitor flight status and contact their airline for updates before arriving at BNA," airport officials said in a statement.

How understaffed is FAA air traffic control at Nashville airport?

This is the second significant ground delay to occur at the Nashville airport since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. The first took place on Oct. 7 and resulted in 263 planes delayed with a total of 39,450 passengers impacted, according to BNA data.

A controller shortage has existed across the U.S. for years, but the current government shutdown has exacerbated it.

As The Tennessean reported in September ahead of the shutdown, the latest FAA data shows that there are 11 fewer controllers stationed at BNA than there should be and two fewer controllers than there were in 2015. Even if every BNA air traffic control tower employee shows up for work, it is operating understaffed.

The Oct. 31 delay comes just two days after U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Duffy visited Nashville's air traffic controllers.

Duffy has said numerous times over the course of the shutdown that air traffic controllers across the country have stopped showing up to work because of missed paychecks. They are among the "essential" group required to continue working through the shutdown without pay.

"Air traffic controllers have bills to pay tomorrow," Duffy said. "There’s no time to put off this conversation. Open up the government and have your discussions later."

Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at [email protected]. To support her work, subscribe to The Tennessean.