U.S. warns it could force 20% flight cuts if government shutdown continues

David Shepardson · Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 4:45 PM EST | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Friday the medication could unit airlines to chopped up to 20 per cent of flights if the authorities shutdown did not end, arsenic U.S. airlines scrambled to marque unprecedented government-imposed reductions.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandated airlines connected Friday to chopped 4 per cent of flights astatine 40 large airports due to the fact that of a record-setting authorities shutdown. Cuts volition emergence to 10 per cent by Nov. 14.

Duffy told reporters it was imaginable helium could necessitate 20 per cent cuts later. "I measure the data," helium said. "We're going to marque decisions based connected what we spot successful the aerial space."

The cuts, which began astatine 6 a.m. ET, see astir 700 flights from the 4 largest carriers — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — and are acceptable to emergence to six per cent connected Tuesday and past 10 per cent by Nov. 14 if the shutdown does not end.

The cuts don't use to planetary flights.

Separately, aerial postulation controller absences connected Friday forced the FAA to hold hundreds of flights astatine 10 airports including successful Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and Newark. By 3:30 p.m. ET, determination were much than 3,500 formation delays.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said connected Friday helium doesn't expect important disruption for customers from archetypal government-ordered formation reductions, but helium warned that accrued cuts would beryllium "problematic."

"This level of cancellation is going to turn implicit time, and that's thing that is going to beryllium problematic," helium told CNBC.

American Airlines told Reuters that its 220 formation cancellations connected Friday impacted 12,000 passengers and wrong a fewer hours accommodated a bulk of them.

WATCH | What Canadian travellers should cognize astir U.S. formation cancellations:

Cuts volition beryllium smaller implicit the weekend

United Airlines said fractional of its impacted customers were capable to beryllium rebooked wrong 4 hours of their archetypal departure time. United, which cancelled 184 flights connected Friday, volition chopped 168 connected Saturday and 158 connected Sunday.

Duffy had announced plans connected Wednesday to chopped 10 per cent of flights starting Friday. But helium said connected Friday that the "safety squad said that could beryllium adjacent much disruptive" and alternatively opted to signifier them starting astatine 4 per cent.

Travellers hold to wide information astatine San Diego International Airport aft the U.S. Department of Transportation imposed a 10 per cent cutback connected formation capableness astatine selected airports owed to the ongoing authorities shutdown. They see the country's busiest one-runway airdrome successful San Diego. (Mike Blake/Reuters )

The proscription caput said information information was down the move, including incidents of planes not maintaining separation and crushed incursions.

"We've had much complaints from pilots that person said, 'Well, the controller is little responsive to me, oregon controllers look to beryllium much stressed," Duffy said. "The numbers are going successful the incorrect direction."

The FAA did not people the database of airports impacted until 7:30 p.m. ET connected Thursday — little than 12 hours earlier the cuts took effect — and mostly rejected concerns airlines raised aft they received a draught order.

Airlines were besides dealing with the fallout from continuing aerial postulation controller absences arsenic the FAA slows flights to code staffing issues. Earlier this week, FAA head Bryan Bedford said 20 to 40 per cent of controllers were not showing up for enactment connected immoderate fixed day.

During the record-long 38-day authorities shutdown, 13,000 aerial postulation controllers and 50,000 information screeners person been forced to enactment without pay.

The FAA connected Friday was delaying flights astatine six airports amid a spike successful aerial postulation controller absences.

The FAA is restricting abstraction launches arsenic well.

It besides warned it could cull circumstantial cuts if they disproportionately impacted definite communities and could chopped up to 10 per cent of wide aviation flights astatine high-traffic airports if staffing issues arose.