U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown.
Nearly 700 planned Friday flights were cut from airline schedules, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions. That number, already four times higher than Thursday's daily total, was likely to keep climbing.
The 40 airports selected by the FAA span more than two dozen states and include hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to a and obtained by The Associated Press. In some metropolitan areas, including New York, Houston, Chicago and Washington, multiple airports will be impacted.
The FAA seeks to reduce service by 10% across “high-volume†markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown. The move also comes as the Trump administration is on Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown.
Hours before the reductions went into place, airlines were scrambling to figure out where to cut. American Airlines said it reduced its schedule at the listed airports by 4% from Friday through Monday, about 220 cancellations each day.
Passengers with plans for the weekend and beyond to see if their flights would take off as scheduled. Some travelers began changing or canceling itineraries preemptively.
Flight cuts will begin gradually
Airlines planned to at the direction of the FAA, eliminating 4% of flights at the 40 airports on Friday and working up to 10%, according to three people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The FAA had not yet published an official order as of Thursday afternoon. The list distributed to the airlines showed that it would apply to international airports in most major cities and tourist destinations, from Anchorage, Alaska, Honolulu and Las Vegas to Boston, Miami and San Francisco,
Some airlines planned to focus on slashing routes to and from small and medium-size cities.
“This is going to have a air transportation system,†industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said.
The flight reductions just weeks before the busy holiday season prompted some travelers to change their plans or looking at other options.
Fallon Carter canceled her Friday flight from New York to Tampa, Florida, where she planned to spend the weekend at the beach. She was worried about making it back to Long Island to be a bridesmaid at her best friend's wedding.
“I don’t know if I get there, will I get home?†Carter said.
The FAA is imposing the reductions to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, and have been increasingly taking sick days. Most controllers work mandatory overtime six days a week, leaving little time for side jobs to help cover bills unless they call out.
In recent weeks the FAA has delayed flights when airports or its other facilities are short on controllers.
Shuffling schedules
Airlines said they would try to minimize , some of whom will see weekend travel plans disrupted with little notice.
United, Delta and American were among carriers that said they would offer refunds to passengers who opt not to fly, even if they purchased nonrefundable tickets.
The head of Frontier Airlines recommended that travelers buy backup tickets with another airline to avoid being stranded.
The cuts also could disrupt package deliveries because two airports with major distribution centers are on the list — FedEx operates at the airport in Memphis, Tennessee, and UPS in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of this week’s .
could affect as many as 1,800 flights, or upward of 268,000 passengers, per day, according to an estimate from Cirium.
Airlines are used to dealing with canceling thousands of flights on short notice during severe weather, but the difference now is that these cuts during the shutdown will last indefinitely until safety data improves.
Shutdown already straining travel
The shutdown is putting unnecessary strain on the system and damaging confidence in the U.S. air travel experience, said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman.
Kelly Matthews, who lives in Flat Rock, Michigan, and frequently flies for work, said she has canceled most of her upcoming trips and understands why federal airport employees have stopped showing up.
“You can’t expect people to go in to work when they’re not getting a paycheck for the continuation of over a month now,†she said. “I mean it’s not a matter of them not wanting to do the job — but you can’t afford to pay for gas, your day care and everything else.â€
Controller staffing worsening
The past weekend brought some of the worst staffing issues since the start of the shutdown.
From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an AP analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, was well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.
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Associated Press journalists Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.
