With two weeks to go before the Thanksgiving holiday travel rush, 40 airports nationwide are experiencing a 6% reduction in flights.

Within Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport, some people are returning two days after their trips were initially canceled.

Those cancellations were the result of a shortage of air traffic controllers, some of whom have been taking off from scanning the skies to work other jobs because they’re not getting paid during this government shutdown.

Air traffic controllers have now missed two paychecks.

Passenger Torrain McKnight, of Neptune City, says his flight from Miami to Newark was canceled on Sunday, and he had no chance to return until Tuesday.

He said it cost him and his wife an extra $600 in combined hotel and food expenses.

“They told us we couldn’t get another flight until Tuesday, so we had to go and rent another room, spend more money," he said.

McKnight says he found the whole government shutdown frustrating.

“Come on, you’ve got people’s lives in your hands. People have to get to places, get back home to families, animals or back to work. I had to take off two more days of work," he says.

There is the chance that holiday travelers might not need to worry at all if the government shutdown ends this week.

House members returning to Washington, D.C. will likely take a vote on Wednesday. which could end any frustration about flying.