{"id":126429,"date":"2025-11-07T07:26:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T07:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/126429\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T07:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T07:26:14","slug":"faa-orders-4-cut-to-domestic-flights-amid-govt-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/126429\/","title":{"rendered":"FAA orders 4% cut to domestic flights amid govt shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to cut domestic flight operations by 4% at 40 high-traffic airports starting at 6am ET (11am Irish time), citing safety concerns about air traffic control during the government shutdown.<\/p>\n

Reuters first reported details of the plan, citing a draft order.<\/p>\n

US airlines worked to rejig schedules and field calls from customers after the Trump administration ordered flight reductions at major airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers during the longest government shutdown in history.<\/p>\n

The FAA said in the final order it is requiring 4% cuts at 40 high-traffic airports until Monday before requiring them to cut 10% of flights starting 14 November.<\/p>\n

The FAA is also imposing restrictions on space launches but not imposing any cuts on international flights.<\/p>\n

The cuts are expected to hit hundreds of thousands of travellers with little notice.<\/p>\n

Aviation analytics firm Cirium estimated the reductions would cancel up to 1,800 flights and cut 268,000 airline seats a day in the US.<\/p>\n

\"People
\nThe FAA warned it could reject specific cuts if they disproportionately impacted certain communities<\/p>\n

The low demand travel period made it easier for airlines to rebook passengers by cutting flight frequencies on some routes and using larger planes.<\/p>\n

Analysts predict the impact on earnings will be modest, provided the shutdown ends before the peak Thanksgiving holiday travel period.<\/p>\n

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy yesterday ordered 10% flight cuts to start today at 40 major US airports<\/a> – including in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – affecting both commercial and cargo services.<\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Administration revised the plan and said late yesterday airlines must cut 4% of domestic flights.<\/p>\n

The FAA also warned it could reject specific cuts if they disproportionately impacted certain communities and could cut up to 10% of general aviation flights at high-traffic airports if staffing issues arose.<\/p>\n

Airlines face the challenge of adjusting flight schedules on short notice while minimising the impact on passengers and crew members.<\/p>\n

\"Fleet
\nAmerican Airlines said it was trying its best to avoid disrupting its staff member’s work schedules<\/p>\n

In a memo to staff, American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said: “You deserve the same level of certainty as our customers.”<\/p>\n

He noted the carrier was trying its best to avoid disrupting the work schedules of its pilots and flight attendants.<\/p>\n

Major airlines proactively offered customers greater flexibility regarding their travel plans, a move reinforced by the Transportation Department confirming late yesterday that passengers are entitled to a full refund.<\/p>\n

But it said airlines are not required to provide reimbursement for hotels or meals for cancellations since they are not at fault.<\/p>\n

In line with the federal directive, American Airlines will reduce its schedules by 4% across 40 airports, amounting to around 220 flights cancelled each day from today until Monday.<\/p>\n

It said the vast majority of these cancellations are for regional flights, allowing the airline to maintain approximately 6,000 daily flights and minimise customer impact.<\/p>\n

Delta Air Lines announced the cancellation of about 170 US flights today, with fewer expected tomorrow due to lower travel volume.<\/p>\n

The carrier normally operates 5,000 daily flights globally.<\/p>\n

United Airlines said it plans to cut 4% of its flights today through to tomorrow, resulting in less than 200 daily cancellations.<\/p>\n

The Chicago-based airline operates around 4,500 flights a day.<\/p>\n

\"WASHINGTON,
\nUS Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (L) said it is ‘safe to fly today’<\/p>\n

Southwest Airlines will cancel about 120 flights today.<\/p>\n

Alaska Airlines has begun cancelling a limited number of flights from today.<\/p>\n

The carrier said that most cancellations would affect high-frequency routes, allowing the majority of customers to be re-accommodated with minimal disruption.<\/p>\n

Discount carrier Frontier said most of its flights would operate as planned, though in a LinkedIn post its CEO Barry Biffle advised customers traveling to funerals or other critical events over the next ten days to book backup tickets on different airlines.<\/p>\n

Airlines can lessen the disruption by using bigger aircraft, a strategy they already employ to deal with congestion in New York-area airports.<\/p>\n

Still, passengers inundated carriers on social media platforms like X with questions and comments as they tried to clarify their travel plans.<\/p>\n

While sales of its “disruption assistance” service have risen steadily since the shutdown began on 1 October, travel app Hopper reported an overnight jump of nearly 60% after the government announced flight cuts.<\/p>\n

The FAA cited a safety assessment of air traffic controllers in ordering the unprecedented cuts, but officials insisted it is safe.<\/p>\n

“It’s safe to fly today and it will continue to be safe to fly next week,” Mr Duffy said.<\/p>\n

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford reiterated that the agency would not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.<\/p>\n

\"A
\nAirlines have estimated that at least 3.2 million travellers have been delayed during the shutdown<\/p>\n

During the closure, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay.<\/p>\n

Absenteeism has risen to 30% or more at some airports as the workers turn to second jobs to feed their families or are unable to afford childcare.<\/p>\n

Even before the shutdown, the FAA was already short about 3,500 air traffic controllers and many were working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks.<\/p>\n

Airlines have estimated that at least 3.2 million travellers have been delayed during the shutdown.<\/p>\n

Following a dip in corporate and leisure bookings in the first half of the year, US airlines had projected a period of steady demand this quarter.<\/p>\n

Yet, even as reduced capacity is expected to drive up airfares, the uncertainty caused by the shutdown may depress consumer travel spending.<\/p>\n

Passenger traffic declined in the first week of November from a year ago after rising in October, data from the US Transportation Security Administration showed.<\/p>\n

Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu urged customers to “stick with their current travel plans” amid a drop in bookings.<\/p>\n

But even before the new flight cuts went into effect, customers said flight delays and cancellations were causing misery.<\/p>\n

Delaware-based Grace Logeman drove two hours yesterday to Newark in New Jersey for a Frontier flight to Atlanta that was delayed by three hours.<\/p>\n

The delay caused her to miss a connecting flight to the Dominican Republic for her sister’s birthday.<\/p>\n

“I’m devastated,” Ms Logeman said while on hold with the airline’s customer service line.<\/p>\n

“As far as the ongoing shutdown … it’s hurting me. I’m the one sitting here now,” she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to cut domestic flight operations by 4% at 40 high-traffic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-126429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}