Air travel chaos caused by the government shutdown grew dramatically worse over the weekend and continued into Monday, November 10.
The national airspace has seen a significant uptick in the number of canceled flights amid a flight reduction plan from the FAA, which was enacted to maintain safety levels as the amount of unpaid air traffic controllers showing up for work has dwindled across the country.
The FAA told U.S. airlines to cut up to 10% of their flights at the 40 airports with the busiest airspace in the country. The mandatory flight reductions led to thousands of canceled flights and delays nationwide since they went into effect on Friday, November 7.
From Friday and through the weekend, there were more than 5,000 canceled flights within, into, or out of the U.S. delays, according to data from aviation tracking site FlightAware. On Saturday and Sunday, airlines were told to cancel 5% and 6% of flights, respectively, at the 40 busiest airports. The number of FAA-required cancellations will then jump to 8% of flights the week of November 10 and eventually reach the full 10% reduction by November 14, according to NBC News.
As such, the travel havoc continued on Monday, November 10. A total number of 1,630 flights within, to, or from the U.S. were canceled as of 10 a.m. on Monday, according to FlightAware data. That number appeared to be climbing as the morning continued.
The top 10 U.S. airports with the most cancellations were all hubs from the FAA’s list of 40 airports where airlines were forced to cut their flights. Topping the list was Chicago O’Hare (ORD) with 144 cancellations, or about 10% of its total number of flights.
Also in the Chicago area, Midway International (MDW) had the second-highest number of canceled flights Monday morning, with 72 scrapped flights, which is about 25% of its total operations.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL), also nixed 72 flights on Monday morning, but that’s only about 6% of its overall schedule, so cancellations there are likely to climb throughout the day.
Other major airports like New York LaGuardia (LGA), Newark (EWR), San Diego (SAN), Denver (DEN), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Washington DC (DCA), and Los Angeles (LAX), Phoenix (PHX), and Boston (BOS) were among the top airports seeing the most cancellations on Monday morning.
Travelers planning to fly on Monday or later in the week should confirm their flight status with their airline. Most U.S. carriers are proactively contacting passengers whose flights are canceled and rebooking them on the next available flight to their destination. Major carriers have also issued fee travel waivers so passengers with travel plans in the next couple of weeks can change their itineraries for free.
Officials are predicting the situation will only become more chaotic for travelers if the shutdown continues, especially with Thanksgiving travel period looming, which traditionally sees some of the top busiest air travel days every year.
In fact, if the shutdown continues, a “substantial” number of Americans might not get to be with their families over the holiday, Transportation Secretary Duffy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “Again, you look at the trend line…and it's only gotten worse as we've gone through the shutdown.”
One of the worst days for air traffic control staffing so far was Saturday, November 8, when 81 controllers called out of work across the nation, according to Duffy, who also recently noted in a statement on X that 15 to 20 controllers are retiring daily since the shutdown began.
Fortunately, the U.S. Senate advanced a potential funding bill on Sunday night that could reopen the government. Lawmakers were scheduled for another vote on the legislation on Monday afternoon. The government shutdown reached day 40 on Monday, and it is now the longest-ever shutdown in U.S. history.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
