FAA Orders Flight Cuts at 40 Major Airports as Shutdown Strains Controllers

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to reduce flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports starting Friday, a step the agency says is needed because air traffic controllers are working without pay during the government shutdown. The order requires cuts of 4 percent on Friday, rising in stages to 10 percent by the following week, according to CBS News and PBS NewsHour.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the plan on Wednesday, and the FAA’s emergency order followed on Thursday, CBS reported. It applies to airports that include Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s JFK and LaGuardia, and Los Angeles International, as well as cargo hubs such as Louisville, Memphis, Anchorage and Ontario, California. Teterboro, which serves business and private aircraft, is also on the list.

Airlines moved quickly. United said it would cancel 4 percent of its flights from Friday through Sunday, CNBC reported, and told NBC News that its carriers would still operate about 4,000 flights a day. American said the vast majority of its customers’ travel would be unaffected, NBC reported. Duffy described the order as a “10% reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations,” according to NBC.

The cuts begin Friday morning, CBS and CNBC reported, and are to reach the full 10 percent the following week, with the FAA’s list putting the date at Nov. 14, according to CNBC. Two airline sources told NBC the cuts would begin at 4 percent on Friday and 5 percent on Saturday before ramping up. The Transportation Department’s list also includes Louisville and Memphis, two of the country’s biggest cargo hubs, which CBS and CNBC both named.

The FAA says controller fatigue is the reason for the order, and the shutdown that began Oct. 1 is the backdrop. Controllers are working without pay during the shutdown, CBS, CNBC and NBC reported, and NBC described controllers’ exhaustion and some taking side jobs to make ends meet.

The cuts are one more effect of the shutdown that began Oct. 1. The FAA says the reductions are meant to ease the strain on controllers, and the agency has framed them as a safety measure, according to the reporting.