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Air travelers may face more frustration as busy U.S. airports need to meet a higher Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) target for reducing flights after already canceling thousands during the government shutdown. Last week, the FAA ordered domestic airlines to drop 4% of their flights at 40 major U.S. airports, saying absences and signs of stress among traffic controllers made it imperative to act in the name of public safety. More flight cancellations, delays expected Tuesday What we know: After already canceling more than 7,900 flights since Friday, the goal for cutting flights is set to rise from 4% to 6% on Tuesday and again to 10% on Friday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain until the FAA sees safety metrics improve. What we don't know: It was unclear on Tuesday exactly how many additional flights would need to be canceled. The average cancellation rate over the last few days already exceeded the FAA’s requirement, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. It's also not known whether the newly passed Senate funding package to reopen the federal government will have an impact on the planned cancellations. Government shutdown causing flight safety risks The record-long government shutdown has made air traffic controllers’ jobs even more stressful, leading to fatigue and increased risks. What they're saying: On Tuesday, Duffy warned that data from the FAA was showing air travel risks rising as more "loss of separation" incidents and runway incursions between aircraft were being reported. Duffy spoke with reporters at Central Wisconsin Airport about the current government shutdown and its impact on air travel across the country. He specifically mentioned data he viewed with the FAA about air safety. "So in regard to the data, I'm not going to give the exact numbers, but what I've told everyone is, we saw what's called loss of separation," Duffy said. "There’s safe distances that airplanes need to maintain in the airspace. We saw incursions in that separation. Now, was it, a near miss? No, but there were incursions, loss of separation. So that's the first thing we saw, the data was going in the wrong direction." RELATED: Trump tells air traffic controllers to ‘get back to work’ as government shutdown drags on "We saw runway incursions," Duffy continued. "And then I had complaints from pilots. The airlines pilots were saying, ‘Hey, FAA, I'm having different experiences with the controller. They're not responding to me as quickly, they seem stressed.’ Or they would say, the controllers and pilots use very specific language, the language that they're using the controller was using was getting sloppy." "All those numbers were going in the wrong direction, which means, the risk levels are going up," he added. After more than 40 days without pay, Nick Daniels – the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association – said that each day brings new challenges for air traffic controllers. "This is not politics, this is not ideology, this is the erosion of the safety margin the flying public never sees, but America relies on every single day," Daniels said. "The added stress leads to fatigue. The fatigue has led to the erosion of safety and the increased risk every day that this shutdown drags on." Thousands of flights canceled Tuesday Big picture view: As of Tuesday afternoon, over 1,200 flights within, into or out of the United States had been canceled for the day, according to the data tracker FlightAware. There were also over 1,900 delays as of 1 p.m. ET. The single airport facing the most issues at 1 p.m. ET was LaGuardia Airport (LGA) with 156 delays and 64 cancellations. This was followed by Chicago O'Hare International Airport, with 107 delays and 64 cancellations. The FAA also expanded its flight restrictions Monday, barring business jets and many private flights from using a dozen airports already under commercial flight limits. The next step to reopening the government could come Wednesday What's next: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is anticipating the House could vote to end the government shutdown as early as Wednesday, Fox News Digital is told. The House GOP leader held a lawmaker-only call late on Monday morning where he urged Republicans to return to Washington as soon as possible for what is expected to be just a single day of voting before a full session week begins on Nov. 17. RELATED: Mike Johnson eyes Wednesday vote with end of government shutdown in sight "We're going to plan on voting, on being here, at least by Wednesday," Johnson said, Fox News Digital was told. "It is possible that things could shift a little bit later in the week, but right now we think we're on track for a vote on Wednesday. So we need you here." He told House GOP lawmakers that the earliest possible vote he could anticipate would be on Wednesday morning, but he later shifted that estimate to the afternoon or evening that day given some Republicans' schedules this week.
