U.S. air travel took another hit this weekend after the Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to trim schedules by up to 10 % at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports, citing a shortage of air-traffic controllers who have now worked more than five weeks without pay. The cuts, confirmed in an internal FAA traffic-management notice and first reported by Business Insider, began with a 4 % reduction on Friday, climbed to 5 % on Saturday, and will reach the full 10 % if lawmakers fail to end the funding impasse in Washington.
Major hubs—including Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, and all five of California’s largest airports—are on the list. Over the first 48 hours, more than 2,000 flights were canceled and another 9,500 delayed, according to FlightAware. Private-jet operators are being diverted to secondary airports so that scarce controller resources can be reserved for commercial carriers.
![FAA orders 10 % flight cuts at 40 major U.S. airports as government shutdown drags on]()
Airlines say the directive affects all aircraft types—cargo and general aviation as well as passenger flights—and could yank 1,800 commercial departures per day from the system, removing roughly a quarter-million seats. United, American, Delta, Southwest, and Alaska have waived change fees and are offering full refunds, even on non-refundable tickets, to encourage voluntary rebooking. Several carriers have activated “irregular-operations” playbooks that allow corporate clients to move entire groups onto alternative routings without penalty.
For business-travel planners the timing is brutal: November and early December are peak months for year-end project travel, corporate relocations, and holiday assignee home-leave trips. Mobility managers are being advised to book fully refundable Y-class tickets where possible, leverage private-aviation charters for small executive teams, and keep assignees’ travel profiles updated in duty-of-care systems so they can be located and re-protected if flights are scrubbed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that the flight-cut percentage could double to 20 % if the shutdown stretches toward Thanksgiving. Even if Congress strikes a deal this week, airlines caution that repositioning aircraft and crews will take several days, meaning residual delays may persist well into next week. Companies with time-sensitive assignments should prepare contingency budgets for last-minute hotel nights, premium-cabin upgrades, and the possibility of routing employees through non-hub airports to avoid the worst traffic-management initiatives.
Major hubs—including Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, and all five of California’s largest airports—are on the list. Over the first 48 hours, more than 2,000 flights were canceled and another 9,500 delayed, according to FlightAware. Private-jet operators are being diverted to secondary airports so that scarce controller resources can be reserved for commercial carriers.
Airlines say the directive affects all aircraft types—cargo and general aviation as well as passenger flights—and could yank 1,800 commercial departures per day from the system, removing roughly a quarter-million seats. United, American, Delta, Southwest, and Alaska have waived change fees and are offering full refunds, even on non-refundable tickets, to encourage voluntary rebooking. Several carriers have activated “irregular-operations” playbooks that allow corporate clients to move entire groups onto alternative routings without penalty.
For business-travel planners the timing is brutal: November and early December are peak months for year-end project travel, corporate relocations, and holiday assignee home-leave trips. Mobility managers are being advised to book fully refundable Y-class tickets where possible, leverage private-aviation charters for small executive teams, and keep assignees’ travel profiles updated in duty-of-care systems so they can be located and re-protected if flights are scrubbed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that the flight-cut percentage could double to 20 % if the shutdown stretches toward Thanksgiving. Even if Congress strikes a deal this week, airlines caution that repositioning aircraft and crews will take several days, meaning residual delays may persist well into next week. Companies with time-sensitive assignments should prepare contingency budgets for last-minute hotel nights, premium-cabin upgrades, and the possibility of routing employees through non-hub airports to avoid the worst traffic-management initiatives.
