FAA Cuts Flights at 40 Airports as Shutdown Strains Air Traffic Controllers

Airlines began canceling hundreds of flights on Friday under a Federal Aviation Administration order that reduces air traffic at 40 of the country’s busiest airports, a step the government took because air traffic controllers have gone without pay during the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced the 10 percent reduction on Wednesday, calling it a proactive effort to keep the airspace safe while addressing controller fatigue, according to NBC News. The FAA issued the formal emergency order on Thursday, CBS News reported, with cuts phased in starting at 6 a.m. local time on Friday.

The schedule is gradual. Under the order, cuts start at 4 percent on Friday, rise to 6 percent by Tuesday, 8 percent by Thursday and reach 10 percent on Nov. 14, CNBC reported. About 780 U.S. flights had been canceled as of 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday, roughly 3 percent of the day’s schedule, according to the aviation data firm Cirium cited by CNBC. The network noted that such a level of disruption is fairly common during major thunderstorms, but the Transportation Department warned that cancellations could climb.

The 40 airports include hubs in Atlanta, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles. CBS News reported that the list also covers cargo-heavy airports such as Louisville, Memphis, Anchorage and Ontario, California, as well as Teterboro in New Jersey, which handles many private jets.

Airlines said the burden would fall mostly on regional and smaller-market flying. American Airlines told employees the 4 percent cut meant about 220 canceled flights a day, with no impact on international routes to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean, NBC News reported. United said it canceled 184 flights on Friday and would protect long-haul international and hub-to-hub service. Southwest canceled 120 flights and Delta said it would cancel 170 on Friday, according to the same report.

Private aviation is also affected. CNBC reported that general aviation was not required to make similarly broad cuts, but the order said private flights could face reductions of up to 10 percent at airports the FAA designated high-impact. Duffy wrote on X on Saturday that private jets were being steered to smaller airports so busy controllers can focus on commercial flights, NBC News reported.

The FAA says staffing triggers, which signal that a facility lacks enough controllers, have increased since the shutdown began, and the Transportation Department cited more reports of strain from pilots and controllers. Controllers have described exhaustion and sick-outs, and some have taken second jobs to make ends meet, according to NBC News. Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA accident investigator, called the move unprecedented. He told NBC News it would reduce the risk of a fatigued controller making a mistake, but would cost airlines and commerce heavily and inconvenience travelers.

Hertz said one-way rental reservations over the previous two days rose more than 20 percent from a year earlier, CNBC reported.

The disruption added to the pressure on Congress to end the shutdown, which had left the controllers unpaid for weeks.