Copyright Newsweek
Amid the federal government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, flight delays and cancellations continue to affect airports across the country. The "Misery Map" on the flight-tracking website Flight Aware shows which airports were worst hit on Wednesday. According to the site, there were almost 4,000 delays within, into or out of the U.S. that day, as well as 171 cancellations. As a result of the air travel chaos, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Wednesday that it would reduce air traffic by 10 percent across 40 major U.S. markets beginning on Friday. Newsweek has contacted the Transportation Security Administration and the FAA for comment via email outside regular working hours. Why It Matters While the Washington stalemate over federal funding legislation continues, 13,000 air traffic controllers are working with no pay according to the FAA. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that controllers are becoming increasingly overworked and financially stressed because of the shutdown. Some have had to take up second jobs to cover paused paychecks, and many have been calling in sick. In some areas, staffing was reduced by 50 percent, the FAA said. The ongoing mayhem at airports is of particular concern in November as Thanksgiving approaches, with tens of millions of Americans expected to travel for the holiday. What To Know Flight Aware's Misery Map shows the number of delays at certain times throughout the day, based on a four-hour time frame, two hours before and after the specific time. According to the map, at 4 a.m. Eastern time (calculated based on a time frame between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.) there were only 41 delays and no cancellations. At 9 a.m., there were 163 delays and seven cancellations. The airports particularly affected at 9 a.m. included Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey (16 delays), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) in Illinois (14) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in Massachusetts (14). Later in the day, at 2 p.m., the number of delays increased to 395 at the start of the peak flight time, with 12 cancellations. Airports particularly affected at that time included San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in California (56 disruptions), Miami International Airport (MIA) in Florida (36) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California (28). By 7 p.m., toward the end of the peak travel period, the number of flights affected soared to 615 delays and 27 cancellations. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in Arizona had the highest number of disruptions, at 93, followed by San Francisco International Airport (61) and Newark Liberty International Airport (41). The FAA and the Department of Transportation directed every airline across 40 airports on Wednesday to "meaningfully reduce their schedules" during the shutdown to "relieve pressure on the national aviation system to keep us all operating safely," United Airlines said on X. American Airlines also posted a similar update on the platform. What People Are Saying American Airlines said on X: "Due to the ongoing government shutdown and nationwide air traffic control staffing shortages, the FAA has directed airlines to reduce flight schedules to maintain safe airspace operations starting Friday, November 7. We expect the vast majority of customers' travel will proceed as planned, and we will proactively reach out to customers who are impacted as schedule changes are made." United Airlines said on X: "These reductions will start Friday, November 7. We will continue to make rolling updates to our schedule so we can provide several days' advance notice. If your flight is impacted, we will notify you in advance via the United app, our website or a text. United's long-haul international and hub-to-hub flights will not be impacted. Instead, the focus is on schedule reductions to regional and domestic mainline flights that do not travel between our hub airports. Any customer traveling during this period is eligible for a refund—even if your flight is not impacted. That includes all non-refundable and Basic Economy tickets." What Happens Next Flight reductions are set to start on November 7.
