Erie International Airport doesn’t rank among the 40 “high impact airports” that the Federal Aviation Administration has asked to reduce flights by 10% as the government shutdown continues.

However, Erie’s airport does connect directly to three of those airports in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as Orlando and Tampa, Florida.

But at least for now, Erie doesn’t appear to be directly affected by that federally ordered reduction in air travel, said Derek Martin, the airport’s executive director.

“Right now, we have no issues in Erie,” Martin said. “Everything is on time and operating.”

But that might not be the last word.

Noting that the announcement from the government came without warning, Martin said, “It’s very fluid. It’s hard to predict what they are going to do.”

Connecting flights could be affected

Just because passengers can travel as always from Erie to Charlotte doesn’t mean their connecting flights from that point won’t be affected.

Martin urged local passengers to check on service from Charlotte to other destinations. The airport has nonstop service to more than 180 U.S. destinations.

At least for now, Breeze Airways, a low-cost carrier that flies from Erie to both Orlando and Tampa, doesn’t expect to change its scheduled flights to Erie, Martin said.

Martin, who spoke with the airline, said Breeze plans to focus its cuts on shorter flights so that it can continue to fly as usual to destinations such as Erie.

Flying higher: Erie airport passenger numbers are climbing.

“Breeze is trying to cut close-in flights from Tampa to destinations in Florida, based on (the logic) that you can drive those distances,” he said.

Changes at EIA: Erie International will have a new flight on its schedule. Where, when it starts flying

Cuts in air travel grew from an FAA emergency order issued late Thursday, calling for air carriers to reduce their daily domestic operations at 40 named airports.

That directive called for cuts of 4% to be made on Nov. 7, with reductions growing to 10% by Nov. 14.

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: How Erie airport is impacted by shutdown flight reductions