New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- The Orlando airport was nearly shut down due to staff shortage during the United States government shutdown, but a last-minute arrangement of the air traffic controllers averted the closure. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had planned to close Orlando for landings.

According to the reports, Orlando, Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington, DC airports witnessed a number of flights getting delayed due to shortage of staff ever since the government shut down on October 1 due to Republicans' standoff with the Democrats over federal funding and health insurance subsidies.

The FAA said in a statement that delays at these airports averaged more than two hours at Orlando, 90 minutes at National Airport in Washington and...