More than 1,000 flights canceled as FAA reductions take effect

Passengers in Houston arrived at the airport expecting to be greeted by chaos because of the FAA-mandated reduction in flights, but have been surprised by how smoothly things were running. 

It may be because passengers with cancelled flights were warned early and rebooked on other flights so didn't showed up to the airport today, or it could be that they were warned of long waits at TSA security checkpoints and arrived plenty early.

'It's been awful': Passengers experience rough travels amid FAA flight disruptions

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Officials announced they had asked the Federal Aviation Administration for a waiver to use airport revenue to pay controllers Wednesday after the FAA announced plans to reduce air traffic at the nation’s busiest airports.

“As part of our airport family, it’s our hope that we can reduce the hardship on them by covering their wages during the shutdown, with reimbursement by the FAA later,” Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington said in a statement. The airport didn’t immediately respond to a request for an update today.

The airport has also created a food pantry for controllers and its other federal employees, like Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection workers, because of the government shutdown.

The partial government shutdown is the longest shutdown in U.S. history, with air traffic controllers among those employees working without pay.

The record as the nation’s longest was broken Wednesday, on the 36th day of the shutdown that began on Oct. 1.

Before that, the longest government shutdown was a 35-day shutdown from Dec. 22, 2018, until Jan. 25, 2019. That stemmed from a fight over funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall.

This shutdown is over health insurance subsidies on the Affordable Care Act market, which without action will expire at the end of the year and raise costs for consumers.

Senate Democrats want the subsidies and talks on other issues, and Republicans have refused to extend the subsidies as part of continuing to fund the government and are calling for a “clean” resolution.

That’s because the carrier has already identified the roughly 220 daily flights it will cut through Monday, Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said.

“We’re going to notify all of our customers if their flight is disrupted,” he said, so if you haven’t heard from the airline, then your flight is “going to go.”

Seymour says the airline is now working on finalizing its reduced schedule for the remainder of next week, when it is expected to slowly increase the number of cancellations to reach the FAA’s target of 10%.

• United Airlines canceled 184 flights today, 168 flights tomorrow, 158 for Sunday and 190 for Monday. The airline operates 4,500 flights daily. 
• American, which runs 6,000 daily fights, canceled 220 each day for today through Monday. 
• Southwest, which operates 4,000 daily flights, canceled 120 flights today, just under 100 flights tomorrow and 150 for Sunday 
• Delta did not disclose a daily breakdown of axed flights. 

Flying anywhere for the Thanksgiving holiday is likely to be tortuous for legions of travelers — even if the government shutdown ends today, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned today.

Hundreds of flights during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year could be affected by staffing shortages of air traffic controllers. The shortages have been exacerbated by the shutdown, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to implement unprecedented flight reductions.

And those staff shortages — at least for now — appear to be set in stone for Thanksgiving, Duffy said.

“So if the government opens on Day 1, will I see an immediate response from controllers? No, the union is telling me it’s going to take time to get them all back in,” Duffy told CNN today when asked if the flight reductions would spill into the holiday.

Read the full story here.

Jonathan Welle, 39, traveled 11 hours on the train to avoid flying to Washington D.C. from Cleveland, Ohio, for a work trip earlier this week.

Welle, who helps develop cooperative small businesses, opted to fly back to save time, only to have two flights canceled: the first last night and then the second on the rebooked flight this morning.

“I realized that if I had just taken the train at the original time, I would have been home sooner, more reliably,” Welle said.

Luckily, American Airlines notified him of the changes before he left for the airport.

But he said the experience is making him reconsider his honeymoon in Vietnam later this month — a trip that he and his partner have waited a year for. The pair rarely travels and afforded the trip through generous gifts from wedding guests.

“I’m concerned about what this new normal could mean,” Welle said.

More than 1,000 U.S. flights have been canceled today, according to FlightAware.

Caitlin Ladner, 31, was scheduled to fly from Madison, Wisconsin, to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday to surprise her family — until her travel plans were canceled due to the ongoing government shutdown.

Ladner received a notification from the United Airlines app on Thursday addressing the FAA's flight reductions, she told NBC News.

Ladner posted a TikTok about her canceled plans on Thursday.

"The U.S. government plans to restrict flights due to the ongoing federal government shutdown," the notification said. "Our schedule changes for Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 are now in place."

As of this afternoon, over 3,500 flights traveling to, from and within the U.S. have been delayed and over 950 were canceled, according to FlightAware.com.

Delays and cancelations have been seen in all 40 high-traffic airports today, including Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, with almost 300 delays and 125 cancelations, and Chicago O'Hare International Airport, with more than 325 delays and almost 90 cancelations.

Travelers wait in a security check point line at O'Hare International Airport today.  Jim Vondruska / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Departing flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the D.C. area are delayed by about four hours due to staffing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

There are multiple U.S. airports with ground delays because of volume and staffing, including Newark Liberty International Airport and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, per the FAA.

In the Houston area, William P. Hobby Airport has a ground delay of about an hour and 20 minutes, while George Bush Intercontinental Airport also has a ground delay of 46 minutes. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Dallas Love Field have 47 and 30-minute delays, respectively. All the delays are due to staffing.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has an hour and 30 minute delay, while Chicago O’Hare International Airport has an hour-long delay — both due to staffing.

A woman checks in at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport today. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that FAA-mandated flight cuts could go up to 20% if the government isn't reopened soon.

"If this shutdown doesn’t end relatively soon, the consequence of that is going to be more controllers don’t come to work and then we’re going to have to continue to assess the pressure in the airspace and make decisions that may again move us from 10% to 15%, maybe to 20," Duffy said on Fox News' "America Reports."

Duffy reiterated that even if the shutdown ended tomorrow, it would take time for things to go back to normal.

"The problem is the airlines have to then, you know, put those, those flights back out for booking again, right? And so it’s going to take some time for the airlines to respond," Duffy said. "So, once we see more controllers in the towers, then airlines have to respond to that. So, it can be, you know, days if not a week before we get back to to full force flights when the, when the shutdown ends."

A Delta flight attendant addressed widespread flight cancellations due to the FAA's reduction order, as seen in a TikTok video posted by a passenger on a flight from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham last night.

"There was a delay with taking off on this flight due to air traffic control," said Latoya Todd, who captured the video. "When we landed, we had to circle around a number of times due to congestion on the tarmac."

Todd's video shows a Delta flight attendant at the front of the plane making an announcement to passengers.

"We will cancel a flight as long as the government requires us to," the attendant said. "It is entirely up to the FAA at this point," he later added.

"The priority is all international flights," he said. Delta's second priority is all flights that go through a major Delta hub, he added.

"Anything else such as a Delta connection flight, a flight that does not go through a major hub, all those are fair game to be canceled."

Toward the end of his announcement, the flight attendant once again emphasized that cancellations are beyond Delta's authority.

"We don't have any control over it here at Delta, he said. "We're kind of rolling with what the government tells us we can and can't do right now."

United Airlines has announced its cancellation of hundreds of flights throughout the weekend. So far, the airline has canceled 184 flights today, 168 tomorrow, and 158 on Sunday. These canceled flights are among the roughly 4,500 it had scheduled each day.

American Airlines said it will cancel about 220 out of its 6,000 flights per day through Monday.

An American Airline plane moves between terminals today at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Nam Y. Huh / AP

United Airlines Senior Vice President of Airport Operations Mike Hanna said the airline is using a "cancel analyzer" tool to help choose which flights to cancel with the least impact on customers.

Orca assists the airline by reviewing flight factors, including load, connecting flights, and crew schedules.

"We want to make sure it’s impacting the least number of customers and the crews, because sometimes if you impact the crews, you may have a subsequent cancellation," Hanna said. "We don’t want to do that to our customers. So, we’re very focused on our domestic line, both main line and express, and ensuring the least amount of disruption to customers."

Today's impact includes 4% of the airline's operations, Hanna said, but if the shutdown drags on, a 10% cut will complicate things.

"It’ll definitely become more complex for us, the more the cancellations will arise," he said. " ... Let’s hope that the government shutdown obviously will end sooner rather than later, and we don’t have to get there, but we’re fully prepared to do everything we can to protect our customers and their itineraries."

Travelers check in today for United Airlines flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport . Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg via Getty Images

The airline will continue giving customers as much notice as possible about canceled flights, Hanna said. The airline has canceled over 500 flights for today and over the weekend. It operates around 4,500 flights daily.

"In fact, we are able to rebook 81% of our customers prior to today for today’s cancelations, and 59% of them made it to their destination within four hours of the originally scheduled time," Hanna said.

Several airports across the country have issued staffing triggers today and into tomorrow, indicating they do not have enough staff to operate regular schedules.

While New York area airports JFK and LaGuardia are no longer on the list, Newark remains, as does Reagan airport in D.C.

Other cities experiencing staffing triggers include San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

Departures at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are delayed by about 15 minutes due to staffing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The delay is expected to get worse, the FAA said.

Delays at other East Coast airports have persisted, including in Newark Liberty International and Teterboro, where flights are delayed 52 and 45 minutes, respectively, due to volume and staffing.

At William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, there is a ground delay of around an hour and 20 minutes, according to the FAA. No reason for the delay was provided.

A traveler walks through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport today. Megan Varner / Getty Images

Airlines for America, the trade association for leading U.S. airlines, released a statement today amid flight cuts.

"The FAA has ordered U.S. airlines to cut flights in order to maintain the safety and reliability of the National Airspace System (NAS)," A4A wrote. "Safety is our shared top priority, and we will comply with the FAA’s order while working to mitigate disruption for travelers."

Air traffic controllers and TSA officers remain unpaid, and over 3.5 million passengers have faced delays or cancellations due to staffing concerns since the shutdown began, according to the statement.

“This simply is not sustainable,” the A4A wrote.

As the busy Thanksgiving travel period approaches, the A4A urges Congress “to act with extreme urgency to get the federal government reopened, get federal workers paid and get our airspace back to normal operations.”

Delta Air Lines is allowing customers traveling into, from or through affected airports to cancel, change or refund their flights without penalties in light of the Federal Aviation Administration-mandated flight reductions.

The airline said that all flight cancellations from today through the weekend have been completed and that customers can explore flight options through the website or applications.

"Delta expects to operate the vast majority of our flights as scheduled, including all long-haul international service, and will work to minimize customer impact while keeping safety our top priority," Delta said in a statement. "We will give customers as much notice as possible about any changes to their flights and apologize for any inconvenience these adjustments may cause."

A Delta plane takes off in Atlanta today. Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg via Getty Images

American Airlines provided an update today on canceled flights as the FAA's reductions take effect.

"We’re running a nearly full schedule today and the vast majority of our customers won’t be impacted," the airline said, adding that it canceled about 220 flights today but still plans to operate roughly 6,000 flights.

"We're getting customers where they need to go despite the FAA-required reductions by minimizing customer impact of the cancellations," the airline wrote.

"To ensure we can rebook as many customers as possible, we reduced in markets where we fly multiple times a day."

The airline provided a few examples of where it is reducing:

• DFW to San Antonio goes from 11 to 10 departures 
• DFW to Northwest Arkansas (XNA) goes from 10 to 8 departures (2 flights canceled) 
• MIA to Tampa (TPA) goes from 10 to 8 departures (2 flights canceled) 
• BOS to DCA goes from 10 to 9 departures 
• MIA to Orlando goes from 9 to 8 departures 

"Nearly 650,000 customers are flying on American today," the statement said, adding that roughly 12,000 of them faced flight cancellations due to the FAA's reductions.

"Within a few hours, our team rebooked and reaccommodated a majority of impacted customers. We plan to reaccommodate thousands more."

A ground stop was issued at San Francisco International Airport this morning due to staffing issues, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Almost 50 flights have been delayed and over 40 were canceled at the airport as of Friday morning, according to FlightAware.com.

Duffy clarified that the end of the government shutdown would not immediately restore air traffic controllers.

"So, if the government opens on Day One, will I see an immediate response from controllers? No,” he said on CNN. "The union is telling me it’s going to take time to get them all back in. I don’t wish this was the circumstance in which I was dealing with. So, I imagine, as we see the data change and more controllers come to work, we are, as quickly as possible, going to take these restrictions away.”"

The transportation secretary reiterated his message regarding the government shutdown: "Enough."

"There’s an easy answer: Open up the government," he said. "Stop this."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his department is adopting a "step approach" to cutting flights from 40 high-traffic airports to relieve pressure amid the government shutdown.

"As I reviewed that with the safety team at the FAA, they said the safest way to do this is to get to 10%, to do a step approach and do it," he said on CNN Friday. "We’re doing it 4% and then, as you see, four days later, we do two. Two days later, we do another two, and then two days after that, we’re at 10%."

Duffy said the Department of Transportation's target is to reduce delays and cancellations by reducing capacity, as was done at Newark Liberty International Airport earlier this summer.

"We had delays and cancellations in Newark in the early summer, we reduced the capacity, and then the flights were on time, right?" Duffy said. "We had less cancellations, less delays. It was the most on time months we had in Newark, ever. So, that could be an outcome of what we’re doing, and we’ll see probably more people on less flights, which means less pressure on controllers."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford have said reducing flights is a "proactive" measure, with safety of the national airspace system the primary concern.

"My department has many responsibilities, but our No. 1 job is safety. This isn’t about politics — it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue to work without pay," Duffy said in a written statement yesterday. "It’s safe to fly today, and it will continue to be safe to fly next week because of the proactive actions we are taking."

Bedford has said that the targeted airports were chosen based on data, including voluntary safety disclosure reports from commercial air transport pilots.

"We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely," he said in the statement. "The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe."

Airports in New York, New Jersey and Florida are experiencing delays today due to staffing and high demand.

New Jersey airports have it the worst, with departures at Newark Liberty International Airport and Teterboro Airport delayed an average of 30 minutes due to staffing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

A traveler waits with his luggage at Newark Liberty International Airport today. timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

Departures at LaGuardia Airport in New York and Miami International Airport are also delayed by about 15 minutes due to "compacted demand" and "volume," respectively, per the FAA.

Elsewhere in the U.S., departures at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport are delayed by about 47 minutes, and at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by an average of 24 minutes. The reason for the delays at the airports is listed as "other," according to the FAA.

More than 1,000 flights within the U.S. have been delayed today as of 9:15 a.m., according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Cancellations are following closely behind. Already, 824 domestic flights have been canceled.

The number is expected to continue to climb today and through the week.

Travelers wait in line today at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Ronald Schemidt / AFP - Getty Images

'This is urgent': Flight attendant union president calls on Congress to open the government

07:27

Stress on the entire air travel system has amped up during the shutdown as those on the front lines, like air traffic controllers, are working without pay. And those behind the scenes, like National Weather Service workers and cybersecurity units, are furloughed and therefore not working or providing support.

Cutting flights to address overworked employees is common in this kind of situation, but it also means people will face delays not only in travel but also in items shipped by air, like packages and medications.

With Thanksgiving just weeks away and flight cancellations expected to keep growing as the days pass, there is concern that travelers won't make it to their families for the holidays.

On the eve of the announced reduction in service, there were staffing triggers — which mean slowing operations and possible ground delays or ground stops — at 17 airports across the U.S.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area had delays averaging 115 minutes, or around 2 hours, on Thursday night, according to the FAA’s website.

Travelers arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport today. Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

Newark Liberty International Airport in the New York City region had an average wait of 206 minutes Thursday night due to staffing, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport had an average wait of 73 minutes, according to the site.

FAA's cuts to air traffic take effect amid government shutdown

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The nation's four largest airlines are already canceling hundreds of flights across 40 airports as the government shutdown drags on, forcing air travel to be slashed as workers are expected to do their jobs without pay.

"I think the government is playing with people's lives," one frustrated traveler told NBC News. Another said the situation is overwhelming and unfair — especially to those who are working.

The FAA has said today will be the first day on which 4% of flights are cut to ease the burden on air traffic controllers. If the shutdown continues, flight cancellations will jump to 6% Tuesday and 10% next Friday.

The airlines have been offering refunds or vouchers to those whose flights are canceled, and said they are working as quickly as possible to notify travelers whose flights are affected.

If you’re traveling soon, check the status of your flight with your airline.

The Transportation Department has mandated that all airlines must issue full refunds to customers impacted. Thus far, the major airlines say they’ll alert customers about cancellations, offer rebooking options and offer refunds whether or not your flight is impacted.

• American Airlines is issuing travel waivers allowing customers whose flights are canceled to change their flight or request a refund without penalty.
• United Airlines said impacted customers will be notified via the app and push notifications about flight changes and rebooking options. United customers traveling during their period are also eligible for a refund, even if their flight isn’t impacted. The airline also released a list of canceled flights from today to Sunday on its website.
• Delta Air Lines is also issuing travel waivers, allowing customers in impacted markets to change, cancel or refund flights without penalty.
• Southwest Airlines said the “vast majority” of customer flights won’t be disrupted, and those impacted will hear from the airline. Those with travel booked through Nov. 12 can change their plans or receive a refund.

People wait in the Terminal A lobby at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport today in Houston. Brandon Bell / Getty Images

A routine journey to the skies may result in long lines and a change of plans as airlines abide by an FAA order to cut flights by 4% in high traffic airports starting today.

The cuts are building up to a 10% reduction in capacity at 40 locations, designed to ease pressure points and address fatigue among air traffic controllers as the government shutdown drags on.

Here’s how the reductions, delays and cancellations are unfolding.

Read the full article here

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After the FAA said it will cut flights by as much as 10% at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports, some passengers at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, said they were frustrated. “I think the government is playing with people’s lives, because this is manufactured and it’s political,” one passenger told WRC’s Adam Tuss.

Given that air traffic controllers don’t know when their next paycheck will hit, Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said “hundreds” of his union members have taken up side gigs amid the shutdown. And that number is “growing rapidly,” he added.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that airlines have been helping bridge that financial gap for controllers by providing meals at no cost. But it shouldn’t be up to airlines to ensure that the country’s air traffic controllers are being fed, he added.

“They have to make choices, and the choices they’re making is to take a second job,” Duffy said last month. “Well, I don’t want my air traffic controllers to take a second job. I want them to do one job.”

But while added side gigs have left air traffic controllers exhausted, Daniels said he is not concerned about safety issues — even if risk is heightened daily during the shutdown. He said officials will control the number of planes in the sky and restrict air traffic when necessary to accommodate workers’ needs and ensure travelers reach their destinations safely.

Read the full story here.

As of 3.30 a.m. ET today, 815 flights into, within or out of the United States were canceled, according to Flightaware. The tracking site doesn't provide reasons for cancellations and delays and some may not be the result of the FAA reductions.

Travelers are bracing for widespread flight delays after the FAA announced it will begin cutting the number of flights in and out of 40 “high-traffic” airports today.

The FAA is requiring 4% of flights to be cut and that will gradually increase to 10% by next Friday.

Hundreds of today's flights had already been canceled by yesterday afternoon, according to the airlines. American had canceled 220 flights, United 188, Southwest about 100 and Delta 170.

At Chicago O’Hare, one of the busiest airports in the nation, the 4% reduction will amount to about 23 canceled roundtrip United flights per day.

By the time the reduction reaches 10% — the equivalent of about 55 United flights canceled per day at O’Hare — it’ll be similar to dealing with a “decent snowstorm,” said Omar Idris, the vice president of the United Airlines O’Hare hub. Idris said that situation is “not really bad … we can cope with that.”

Read the full story here.

ANC — Anchorage International

ATL — Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International

BOS — Boston Logan International

BWI — Baltimore/Washington International

CLT — Charlotte Douglas International

CVG — Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International

DAL — Dallas Love Field

DCA — Ronald Reagan Washington National