Travelers find delayed arrivals and departures at San Diego International Airport Sunday

Tower staffing issues on Sunday were blamed for delaying many flight arrivals and departures at San Diego International Airport, officials said.

A ground delay was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration around 3:30 p.m. By 7:30 p.m., the flight-tracking website FlightAware reported inbound flights delayed at their origin an average of 59 minutes and departure delays were an average of 59 minutes and increasing.

A FAA website indicated the delays were caused by tower staffing.

Passengers traveling out of San Diego were advised to check their flight status before coming to the airport and encouraged to arrive at least two hours before their flight, said Jonathan Heller, a spokesperson for the San Diego County Airport Authority.

“Checkpoint wait times and flight scheduling are subject to the operations of our federal and airline partners. These operations are, at times, being affected by the federal government shutdown,” Heller said.

Many airports are dealing with air traffic controller shortages as the government shutdown entered its second month.

On the East Coast, Newark airport in New Jersey was experiencing delays of two to three hours. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O’Hare were also seeing dozens of delays and one or two cancellations, along with major airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami, according to FlightAware.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.