WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) -

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday delayed

flights at airports in Austin, Newark and Nashville as air

traffic control staffing problems continue to snarl flights and

a government shutdown hits its 31st day.

At least nine FAA facilities were facing staffing issues on

Friday and the agency said it was likely to delay flights later

at Houston and Dallas airports.

Flight delays were averaging 61 minutes at Nashville, 50

minutes at Austin and 101 minutes at Newark. FlightAware, an

aviation tracking site, said 2,200 U.S. flights had been delayed

and 300 canceled as of 12:30 p.m. ET.

There were 7,300 U.S. flight delays and 1,250 flights

canceled on Thursday.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Friday

he expects more flight delays in the coming days

"Coming into this weekend and then the week after, I think

you are going to see even more disruptions in the airspace,"

Duffy said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom."

On Thursday, air traffic control staffing shortages snarled

flights at Orlando, Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. The

shutdown has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000

Transportation Security Administration officers to work without

pay.

Delta Air Lines ( DAL ), United, Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) and American

Airlines ( AAL ) all called on Congress to quickly pass a stop-gap

funding bill to let the government reopen and discussions

continue over healthcare policy disputes.

The shutdown has led to flight delays due to air traffic

controller absences and impacted thousands of flights, the

Transportation Department said.

Airlines have repeatedly urged an end to the shutdown,

citing aviation safety risks. The shutdown has exacerbated

pre-existing staffing shortages, threatening to cause widespread

disruptions similar to those that helped end a 35-day government

shutdown in 2019.

The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of

targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory

overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.