A female passenger slammed LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York for delaying her flight. Upon seeing a tweet from the airport on X (formerly Twitter), she responded, “Who made the decision to not post wait time any longer at the airport?”
The airport had initially posted about delays, writing on social media, “LaGuardia Airport is now open, expect delays and/or cancellations. Plan ahead and check with your airline for the latest updates.”
LGA responded to the passenger’s complaint on Monday, writing: “Due to the federal funding lapse, security wait times may be significantly longer than normal. Wait times are subject to rapid change based on passenger volumes and TSA staffing. For these reasons, wait time reporting has been temporarily suspended. Please allow for significantly more time and check with your airline for the current status of your flight.”
Due to the federal funding lapse, security wait times may be significantly longer than normal. Wait times are subject to rapid change based on passenger volumes and TSA staffing. For these reasons, wait time reporting has been temporarily suspended. Please allow for significantly…
— LaGuardia Airport (@LGAairport) March 23, 2026
Besides the crash between the Air Canada Express Flight 8646 plane and the fire truck, the partial government shutdown, affecting TSA staff, also caused major delays.
It happened on Sunday night, when an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck on an active runway, leading to the death of a pilot and a co-pilot. This led to flights from Laguardia Airport being delayed for hours and security wait times being much longer than normal.
Moreover, the closure at LGA added to nationwide travel turmoil related to the partial government shutdown, with TSA workers not receiving pay.
Meanwhile, dozens were hurt in the high-speed impact between the jet, traveling at 104 miles per hour and the Port Authority fire truck on a runway. Reportedly, air traffic control had cleared both the yet and the fire truck to be on the runway together. 41 passengers and crew were taken to the hospital with injuries, according to initial reports, and 32 have already been released, according to Port Authority.
A passenger recorded this video immediately following the deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport.https://t.co/voVpqzHyr0 pic.twitter.com/YFq0Ne7NU7
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) March 23, 2026
A former Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controller Dave Riley told CNN that the number of air traffic controllers — and how much they had worked — was possibly a factor in Sunday’s crash at LGA. “I’ll be curious to know how many people were actually in the tower cab,” he said.
“That controller seemed to be doing a lot of coordination that requires his attention away from scanning runways and dealing with the movement of air traffic and vehicles around,” he added.
CBS posted audio released by the air traffic controllers after the accident happened.
“We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up”: Audio has been released of the air traffic controllers working at LaGuardia Airport in New York City when a deadly crash occurred on the runway on Sunday. Two pilots were killed when an Air Canada plane collided with a… pic.twitter.com/B31iUMIfcA
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 23, 2026
Riley added that the number of hours worked by the air traffic controller, as well as their “fatigue factor” and other factors would be taken into consideration in the accident.
