FAA Flight Reductions: How United, Southwest, and American Respond

(UNITED STATES) The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut schedules by 10% across 40 major U.S. markets starting November 7, 2025, an emergency step to keep skies safe amid severe air traffic controller shortages worsened by the government shutdown. United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines said they will comply with the FAA flight reductions, prioritizing core routes while steering the deepest cuts toward flights seen as less critical and offering broad flexibility to affected passengers.

The move affects thousands of flights across the country, according to the agency, which manages more than 44,000 flights each day. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the decision was driven by acute staffing pressure inside control facilities as the shutdown drags on.

“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” Bedford said, underscoring that the 10% cuts would stay in place as long as needed to preserve safety.

In a joint message with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the FAA added:

“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating.”

The reductions will initially sweep across 40 large markets, though the FAA did not immediately release the full airport list. The scale and speed of the change drew immediate concern from parts of the industry. “To tell airlines you’ve got 48 hours to rebuild your schedules at 90% of what you’ve got isn’t much time, and it’s going to result in a lot of chaos,” said industry analyst Henry Harteveldt. Airlines said they are scrambling to cut flights without upending their networks, and they urged customers to watch for short-notice schedule updates and to allow extra time at airports once the policy takes effect.

United Airlines told staff it will concentrate its share of the FAA flight reductions on smaller and non-core parts of its network. Chief Executive Scott Kirby said United will

“focus the cuts on regional routes and flights that don’t travel between hubs.”

He told employees the carrier is determined to protect its backbone operations despite the 10% cuts.

“United’s long-haul international flying and our hub-to-hub flying will not be impacted by this schedule reduction direction from the FAA. That’s important to maintain the integrity of our network, give impacted customers as many options as possible to resume their trip, and sustain our crew pairing systems,” Kirby said.

The airline is moving to rebook customers where it can and will provide refunds to anyone who does not want to travel during the affected period, even if their flight is not canceled.

Southwest Airlines said it is revising schedules to comply with the order and will try to shield travelers from the brunt of the changes. The company said it

“will try to minimize the impact on consumers”
while it retools flight plans. Southwest executives have been warning for months about stressed operations and shifting capacity to keep up with demand and staffing realities. Chief Executive Gary Kelly previously cautioned that bookings were running “at levels we have never seen,” adding that the airline would continue to trim capacity when needed. The carrier, which leans heavily on point-to-point flying, said it expects to adjust off-peak frequencies and thinner routes first, part of its plan to absorb the 10% cuts while safeguarding its busiest corridors.

American Airlines also said it will comply with the FAA directive while focusing on limiting disruption for customers. The company plans to funnel reductions toward domestic seat capacity and less essential routes, helped by recent flexibility the FAA provided on minimum flight requirements at certain airports. That leeway, which has allowed airlines to hold onto slots with fewer flights, gives American and others space to pare schedules without losing long-term access at constrained airports. The airline said it is extending waivers to let customers change, cancel, or refund affected trips without penalty during the period covered by the FAA order.

The FAA flight reductions come against the backdrop of controllers working without pay since the shutdown began October 1. Many have been assigned six-day workweeks with mandatory overtime, and controllers at some facilities have reported fatigue, with some calling out of work as the crisis stretches on. The agency said the 10% cuts are meant to reduce strain on control rooms before fatigue leads to a safety lapse.

“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,”
the statement from Bedford and Transportation Secretary Duffy said, repeating the warning that action now is intended to avoid a worse outcome later.

While the FAA did not publish a full list of affected airports, carriers expect the widest effects at some of the country’s busiest hubs and metro areas where staffing gaps are most acute, and where even small delays ripple quickly through national networks. Airlines are triaging routes with an eye to preserving high-demand links and protecting complex connecting banks that knit their systems together. For United, that means protecting long-haul international and hub-to-hub flying; for American, it means focusing reductions largely on domestic capacity; and for Southwest, it means balancing capacity cuts across its point-to-point map while trying to maintain frequency on key city pairs.

United said customers who prefer not to travel during the FAA’s 10% cuts can request refunds, including on flights that still operate but fall within the affected window, and it is trying to rebook impacted travelers onto the next available flights. American and Southwest said they are also extending flexibility, allowing customers to change or cancel travel without fees, in line with the FAA’s safety-driven reductions. Airlines are directing customers to their mobile apps and websites for real-time updates, and airports are telling flyers to watch social media for gate and schedule changes that may come close to departure time.

Harteveldt said the short notice is likely to make the first weeks of the change messy. “To tell airlines you’ve got 48 hours to rebuild your schedules at 90% of what you’ve got isn’t much time, and it’s going to result in a lot of chaos,” he said, noting that airlines must renegotiate crew pairings, aircraft routings, and airport staffing at speed. That scramble is already visible in revised timetables as carriers carve back frequencies on thinner routes, trim late-night and mid-day flights, and consolidate services where possible to keep their busiest waves intact.

The FAA said the restrictions will remain until staffing stabilizes. Bedford, who took the unusual step of ordering blanket reductions across dozens of markets, said he had not seen anything like this in decades.

“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,”
he said. The agency emphasized that the 10% cuts are a preventive tool meant to keep the system safe while it works through the shutdown, training bottlenecks, and fatigue that have left traffic management units struggling to cover shifts.

The order adds fresh pressure to travelers heading into the late fall and holiday seasons, when airports typically get busier and weather adds more strain. Airlines are preparing for a rolling wave of schedule changes as they fine-tune their responses to air traffic controller shortages. Longer connection times, retimed departures, and small aircraft swaps are likely as carriers try to keep networks balanced with fewer flights. With the FAA managing more than 44,000 flights daily, even a 10% reduction translates into thousands of cancellations or consolidations each day across the system, with the heaviest hits likely to fall on routes deemed less critical.

United’s Kirby argued that protecting long-haul and hub-to-hub flying is essential to avoid a cascading breakdown.

“United’s long-haul international flying and our hub-to-hub flying will not be impacted by this schedule reduction direction from the FAA. That’s important to maintain the integrity of our network, give impacted customers as many options as possible to resume their trip, and sustain our crew pairing systems,”
he said. The airline’s decision to “focus the cuts on regional routes and flights that don’t travel between hubs” is intended to keep its main arteries flowing even as schedules shrink.

Southwest, which carries more domestic passengers than any other U.S. airline, said it is calibrating changes to preserve key markets while observing the FAA order. The company said it

“will try to minimize the impact on consumers,”
a pledge that will be tested as it trims some frequencies and re-times flights to make the most of available controller resources. Kelly’s warning about demand “at levels we have never seen” suggests Southwest will be weighing load factors and booking trends carefully as it allocates fewer seats across its network.

American, meanwhile, is expected to lean on the FAA’s flexibility around minimum flight requirements at certain airports to shield key slots while it prunes its timetable. By focusing reductions on domestic seat capacity and less critical routes, American aims to maintain its cornerstone hubs and protect transcontinental and international flows that feed high-yield traffic. The airline told customers it will try to keep rebooking straightforward and avoid penalties as it works through the order.

Travelers are being urged to take practical steps in light of the FAA flight reductions. Airlines and airports advise checking apps for gate and time changes throughout the day, signing up for flight alerts, and arriving earlier than usual to navigate potentially longer lines and crowded customer service desks. With crew assignments and aircraft rotations shifting quickly, flights that still operate may depart at different times or on different aircraft than originally planned, and some connections may need to be adjusted.

The FAA’s decision reflects a calculation that safety margins must come first while controllers remain stretched thin. With many working six days a week and logging mandatory overtime since the shutdown began on October 1, the agency said it is acting on early warning signs to prevent a more serious incident.

“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,”
the statement from Bedford and Secretary Duffy said. Agency officials said they will revisit the 10% cuts as conditions change, but they offered no timeline for relaxing the limits.

Airlines say they will update schedules in rolling batches, which means travelers could see multiple changes to the same itinerary as carriers tweak operations. United’s refund offer, which extends even to flights that are not canceled, is meant to give customers a clean exit if they prefer to avoid travel during the FAA’s order period. American and Southwest said they are also offering waivers to let customers move trips without penalties. The industry hopes that by targeting reductions at regional, off-peak, and non-hub routes, they can keep the nation’s core air links functioning while the FAA works through the shortages.

With the list of affected airports still undisclosed, the broad scope—40 major U.S. markets—suggests passengers across the country will feel at least some impact as the 10% cuts take effect. The FAA’s message to airlines and travelers is that safety remains the top priority during the shutdown. For official updates on air traffic operations and policy changes, the agency directed the public to the Federal Aviation Administration. As the reductions begin on November 7, 2025, the coming days will test how well carriers can reshape networks at speed and how smoothly the system can run with fewer flights while controller staffing remains stretched.