WASHINGTON (7News) -- Thousands of travelers are dealing with flight delays stemming from the FAA cutting flights and the government shutdown. There is a historic number of delays and cancellations across the country, including Reagan National Airport.
Senior Aviation Reporter with The Points Guy Sean Cudahy explained how the delays "snowballed" as air traffic controllers are required to work without a paycheck.
RELATED | DCA tops global list for flight delays, cancellations on first day of new FAA restrictions
"These aren't just like ordinary jobs. I mean, these are very stressful, high-intensity jobs," said Cudahy. "Now you've asked them to continue working without pay here, and you've seen some of them just have not been able to continue coming to work."
The financial burden on some air traffic controllers is causing some to face evictions as the shutdown enters its 39th day, the longest in history.
Reagan had the most flight delays and cancellations of any airport in the world on Friday night. DCA travelers had over 350 flight cancellations and over 150 delays, averaging around four hours.
"I think there's going to be more where that came from across the country today. And it's, it's unfortunately going to be a messy weekend and a messy few days for air travel," said Cudahy about the Reagan meltdown.
SEE MORE | Woman stabbed to death in Annandale area of Fairfax County
"If this continues into the Thanksgiving holiday... this could, could definitely be a messy, you know, holiday at airports... It's hard to even imagine how bad the disruptions could be if this were to continue into the holiday," said Cudahy.
One tip to get your trip back on track is to skip the long hold times when calling the airlines, said Cudahy.
"You don't even have to bother waiting on hold for a long time with the airline; we know that can just be such a pain," said Cudahy. "My favorite way to just, you know, get my trip back on track when a flight gets canceled is just to go right into the app and rebook myself."