Airport Chaos to Worsen as Government Shutdown Impacts Flights

(PHOENIX, ARIZONA) Airport disruptions widened Friday as the government shutdown forced the FAA to order phased flight cuts at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports, with airlines canceling about 1,000 flights per day at the outset and more reductions expected in the days ahead. The move, which began with a 4% reduction on November 7, 2025, is set to ramp up to 6%, then 8%, and reach 10% by the end of next week, a tightening schedule that is already rippling through airline operations, traveler plans, and airport staffing across the United States.

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where early-morning departures often set the tone for the day, there were already 5 or 6 cancellations reported early Friday, with more expected as airlines rework schedules to comply with federal orders. Airlines have pushed alerts through apps, emails, and text messages in an effort to catch passengers before they leave for the airport, one of several steps carriers say could reduce confusion as flight cuts bite and schedules shift within hours.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the FAA changes are designed to protect safety while acknowledging the pressure on air traffic controllers and TSA officers working without pay during the shutdown.

“My job is to be preemptive, to take preemptive action based on the data… Right now it’s about making the right decisions at the right time to keep people safe. We have to take unprecedented action because we are in an unprecedented situation with the shutdown.”
He said internal data shows controllers are stressed and fatigued and that reducing flight volumes is intended to “take some of the pressure off of the controllers who are working without pay and amid a surge in sick calls.”

Union leaders say that pressure is not abstract. Rich Santa, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CBS News:

“It’s not like you can just go and tough it out today. They have to be ready to ensure the safety of the flying public. So every day that this drags on, it’s introducing new problems because these are real people with real lives… If you don’t pay anybody, there’s going to be issues ahead.”
The union has warned that shortages, compounded by sick calls, make it harder to keep towers and radar rooms fully staffed, especially as schedules stretch into nights and weekends to maintain coverage.

The FAA’s phased flight cuts are meant to align air traffic with what the system can safely handle, rather than push through delays and risk errors. Officials and industry groups stress that flying remains safe, and that the reductions are a preventive step to avoid overloading the network. Tyler Hosford, security director at International SOS, said:

“As of right now, it’s still perfectly safe… If that changes, public-associated and private organizations will speak up.”
Safety officials are emphasizing that the reductions are targeted and adjustable, allowing the FAA to dial volumes up or down as staffing stabilizes or deteriorates.

Travelers are already seeing the fallout in their email inboxes. Airlines began sending cancellation notices and rebooking options well ahead of Friday’s initial 4% cut to reduce the chances of passengers learning at the airport that their flight is gone. For some, a change of a few hours can unravel a trip. Kris Van Cleave, CBS News senior transportation correspondent reporting from Phoenix, said:

“For some people, that couple hour change could be a deal breaker on a trip or a tight connection. And so there will be some people that likely don’t travel because of this. Others, they’re maybe going to get there late or they’re going to be on an earlier flight.”
Customer service agents report that the most difficult adjustments are unfolding on routes with limited frequency—smaller-city connections that hinge on one or two daily flights now being pruned to one, or delayed to the point where connections are missed.

The timing of the FAA’s orders tracks directly with the government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025 and had lasted 35 days as of November 4, making it the longest in U.S. history. The political deadlock in Congress has left agencies to draw up contingency plans to keep core operations running, but with staff either furloughed or compelled to work without pay. For the FAA, that has meant air traffic controllers staying on duty but without the backfill and flexibility that come with fully staffed facilities, as well as a spike in sick calls that has forced managers to rethink how many aircraft the system can safely move at once.

As the cuts intensify to 6%, then 8%, and finally 10% by the end of next week, the daily toll of cancellations will rise beyond the roughly 1,000 flights per day expected at the outset. Airlines are adjusting route-by-route and hour-by-hour, focusing the deepest cuts at peak congestion periods when controllers juggle the highest number of movements. Major hubs bearing the brunt are among the 40 airports identified by the FAA, though carriers and airports are not publishing uniform lists as schedule changes roll. Regional airports will feel the secondary effects as aircraft and crews are out of position, leading to later cancellations beyond the initial planned reductions.

Airports say they are trying to absorb the operational shock without compounding the pain. Ground handlers, wheelchair and mobility service providers, and concessions—mostly private contractors—are still operating, preserving the basic flow of an airport day. Even so, managers warn that the squeeze on federal personnel could widen. TSA lines had not significantly lengthened early Friday, but officials and security experts caution that if the shutdown continues to drag on, screening delays could grow as more federal workers call in sick or seek temporary jobs to bridge the gap. That would deepen the impact from the FAA’s flight cuts by adding checkpoint bottlenecks on top of thinner schedules.

For airline customers, one rule remains clear: if a flight is canceled, carriers are legally required to refund the ticket price, including baggage fees and seat upgrades, even if the fare was nonrefundable. Travelers offered alternative flights retain the right to a refund if they choose not to rebook. Airlines say they are steering most customers to earlier or later departures where possible and waiving change fees in many cases, though policies vary by carrier and route. Agents urge passengers to use airline apps and respond quickly to prompts, since seats on remaining flights are likely to fill fast as cancellations accumulate.

Some passengers are looking to rail. Amtrak, a government-owned for-profit company, is not directly affected by the shutdown and continues to run its trains on published schedules. While rail cannot substitute for most long-haul domestic trips, it offers an option in dense corridors like the Northeast, parts of California, and short-haul intercity routes in the Midwest. Travel advisers say passengers who can break a trip into rail and a shortened flight leg may find more reliable options as airlines cut back frequency on marginal routes.

Behind the numbers is a network under unusual strain. Controllers at busy approach facilities and towers handle hundreds of movements per shift, a task that demands constant concentration. The combination of short staffing, mandatory overtime, and missed paychecks is a recipe for fatigue, by the FAA’s own assessment and the union’s warnings. The agency’s decision to begin with a 4% reduction on November 7, 2025, then step to 6% and 8% before hitting 10% by the end of next week, reflects an effort to manage that risk in increments rather than impose a single severe cut that might strand more travelers at once. By staging the reductions, the FAA can monitor operational data and adjust its orders as needed to maintain safety margins.

The wider industry is bracing for a prolonged squeeze if the government shutdown persists. Airlines have pulled back on discretionary moves, pausing some crew trainings and delaying aircraft rotations that are not essential to the shortened schedules. Maintenance planners say that while safety-critical checks continue on time, non-urgent cabin improvements or interior refurbishments will slide to the right as capacity shrinks and spare aircraft are pressed into service to cover cancellations. Airport authorities are shifting staff to help passengers and keep security and baggage moving, aware that the visual of crowded lobbies and weary travelers can compound frustration even when the day’s number of flights is reduced.

In Phoenix and elsewhere, Friday’s early cancellations foreshadowed what travelers can expect through next week: fewer flights, earlier and later departures as airlines spread traffic, and a greater chance that a tight connection will break. Families and business travelers alike are juggling revised itineraries, with some opting to delay trips until the reduction peaks at 10% and, perhaps, begins to ease if staffing stabilizes. Others will choose not to travel at all, an outcome airlines anticipate as they weigh how to allocate fewer seats across a national network.

For now, the FAA and airlines are emphasizing safety and transparency. The agency is publishing updates and advising travelers to confirm flight status directly with airlines and via the FAA website, which also provides national airspace delay maps and advisories. The central message from regulators and industry voices remains that the system is safe, even if it is moving fewer aircraft than normal.

“As of right now, it’s still perfectly safe… If that changes, public-associated and private organizations will speak up,” Hosford said, underscoring that the reductions themselves are a safety measure intended to match workload with available staffing.

The political stalemate that started on October 1, 2025 shows no sign of breaking, and with each passing day the operational strain grows.

“Every day that this drags on, it’s introducing new problems because these are real people with real lives… If you don’t pay anybody, there’s going to be issues ahead,” Santa said, repeating a warning that controllers cannot simply will themselves through fatigue without consequences.
Buttigieg, for his part, framed the FAA orders as a difficult but necessary choice given the constraints of the shutdown.
“We have to take unprecedented action because we are in an unprecedented situation with the shutdown,” he said, linking the flight cuts directly to the imperative to keep the skies safe.

As the reduction plan moves from 4% to 6%, then 8%, and finally 10% by the end of next week, passengers are likely to see the cumulative effects most clearly on peak travel days and at the busiest hubs among the 40 airports targeted for cuts. Early signs from Phoenix suggest the pattern will be a steady drumbeat of cancellations and retimings rather than a single wave, giving airlines chances to re-accommodate travelers but also prolonging uncertainty across days. With roughly 1,000 cancellations per day expected initially and thousands more as the flight cuts deepen, the question for travelers is not whether the shutdown will disrupt plans, but how much and how long.

For those set to fly, the advice from airlines and airport officials is straightforward: watch for messages, check status frequently, and build extra time into plans. Some passengers will find that a change of a couple of hours breaks a connection or pushes an arrival past a workable window.

“For some people, that couple hour change could be a deal breaker on a trip or a tight connection,” Van Cleave said from Phoenix.
Friday’s early cancellations at Sky Harbor—5 or 6 in the morning alone—conveyed how quickly schedules can shift. The same pattern is emerging at other major airports where the FAA’s orders apply, with airlines thinning departures across the day to fit a tighter operational envelope.

If the shutdown lifts, the FAA could unwind the reductions, and airlines would likely rebuild schedules over days rather than weeks. But officials refrain from setting expectations as negotiations on Capitol Hill remain stuck. Until then, the FAA’s flight cuts will act as a pressure valve on a stressed system—one that keeps flying safe, but slower, while controllers and transportation security officers continue working without pay. For passengers, the reality of the government shutdown has landed not as an abstract budget fight, but as an alert on a phone, a canceled flight, and a decision: take a refund, accept a rebooking, or wait for the next departure that still has a seat.