The US government’s record breaking 43-day shutdown is expected to have caused US$6.1 billion in total losses across travel and related sectors.
The US Travel Association says that there were, an average of 88,000 fewer trips taken each day during the shutdown, contributing to the economic loss of US$6.1 billion.
The impact of the shutdown – the longest in US history – was felt in airports, hotel lobbies and travel-communities communities across the US, the associations said. Losses were driven by workforce strain, operational shutdowns and suppressed demand.
Essential travel workers including air traffic controllers, TSA officers and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staff were required to work without pay. As a result, many called in sick so they could secure alternative forms of employment.
This placed “enormous stress on the workforce responsible for keeping travellers safe and the system functioning” the US Travel Associations said.
In November, the Federal Aviation Administration reduced flights at 40 high-traffic airports due to controller shortages, exacerbating delays and forcing cancellations nationwide.
The impact has been far reaching: shutdowns supress travel demand and bring government-related travel to a halt. Closures of public attractions including national parks also reduce leisure spending.
The US Travel Association says there is strong public support for a solution with 4 in 5 Americans saying they support paying air traffic controllers during government strikes.
The vice president of research at U.S. Travel, Joshua P. Friedlander, said the shutdown disproportionally hurts the industry: “They disproportionately harm a sector that supports 15 million jobs and underpins America’s economic growth. Protecting the continuity of travel operations and ensuring essential workers are paid gives due recognition to an industry that has proven to be essential.”
The state of travel to the US
There has been conflicting views as to whether outbound travel to the US was impacted by the shutdown. ATIA data shows that outbound travel to the US was down by 4.9 per cent for the month of October, however travel to the UK and Thailand was also down for this month.
This didn’t reflect a wider trend: overall travel for the month of October was up 7.9 per cent.
Overall, travel to the US was down 0.8 per cent year on year from 2024 to 2025.
US air traffic controller sick calls rise as government shutdown enters week two
