Picture it: exhausted families sprawled across airport floors, toddlers wailing over the crackle of loudspeakers, and frazzled travellers glued to departure boards flashing 'DELAYED' in furious red letters.
It is not a travel nightmare you wake up from; it is the reality for millions of Americans this week, as the nation's skies buckle under a government shutdown that has left air-traffic controllers unpaid and airports in meltdown.
