The Federal Aviation Administration ’s unprecedented order to scale back flights nationwide because of the record-long government shutdown took effect Friday morning, with some passengers trying to figure out backup travel plans.
Airlines scrambled to adjust their schedules and began canceling flights Thursday in anticipation of the FAA’s official order, while travelers with plans for the weekend and beyond waited nervously to learn if their flights would take off as scheduled. Airlines also planned cancellations into the weekend, directing passengers to check apps to learn their flight status.
The 40 airports selected by the FAA span more than two dozen states.
The FAA said the reductions would start at 4% and ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14. They are to be in effect between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and impact all commercial airlines.
The agency said the cutbacks are necessary to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who've been working without pay for more than a month. Many are pulling six-day work weeks with mandatory overtime, and increasing numbers of them have begun calling out as the financial strain and exhaustion mount.
Here's the latest:
United, American airlines say they were able to rebook most travelers affected by flight cuts so far
United spokesperson Josh Freed said more than 80% of the people affected by the cuts have been rebooked with the vast majority of those scheduled to reach their destinations within four hours of their original plan.
“We’ve had a lot of success rebooking people is the bottom line,” Freed said.
The airlines focused the cuts on smaller regional flights to airports where they have multiple flights a day. That helped minimize the number of passengers affected and limited the disruptions to the airlines’ plan to position planes and crews in their hubs for the next flight.
American offered examples of some of the cuts it made. Flights from Dallas to San Antonio were cut from 11 a day to 10. Flights from Dallas to northwest Arkansas went from 10 to 8 a day. Boston to Reagan National went from 10 flights to 9.
Court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for the food program
The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans, mostly with lower incomes.
Thursday’s federal court order came in a lawsuit from cities and nonprofits challenging the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65% of the maximum monthly benefit, a decision that could have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
In its court filing Friday, Trump’s administration contended that Thursday’s directive to fund full SNAP benefits runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
“This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers. Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court.
Trump administration seeks to halt SNAP food aid payments after a court order
President Trump’s administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly SNAP benefits amid a U.S. government shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.
U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. had given Trump’s administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But Trump’s administration asked the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund.
The court filing came even as Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said on Friday that some SNAP recipients in the state already had received their full November payments overnight on Thursday.
▶ Read more about the government shutdown and food aid
Democrats consider prolonging shutdown as Republicans prepare new bills without health care fix
Republican senators are trying to end the government shutdown by preparing a bipartisan package of spending bills they hope will win new Democratic votes. It’s unclear whether their plan will work.
Democrats have voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demand an extension of expiring health care subsidies, which aren’t expected to be part of the legislation. Many said Thursday they would continue to hold out until President Trump and Republican leaders negotiate with them on an extension.
“That’s what leaders do,” said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. “You have the gavel, you have the majority, you have to bring people together.”
A test vote on the new package, which hasn’t been made public, could come as soon as Friday.
▶ Read more about the government shutdown
Trump is ramping up a new effort to convince a skeptical public he can fix affordability worries
President Donald Trump is adjusting his messaging strategy to win over voters who are worried about the cost of living with plans to emphasize new tax breaks and show progress on fighting inflation.
The messaging is centered around affordability, and the push comes after inflation emerged as a major vulnerability for Trump and Republicans in Tuesday’s elections, in which voters overwhelmingly said the economy was their biggest concern.
Democrats took advantage of concerns about affordability to run up huge margins in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races, flipping what had been a strength for Trump in the 2024 presidential election into a vulnerability going into next year’s midterm elections.
▶ Read more about Trump’s efforts on affordability
Air Force One cleared for takeoff
Hundreds of flights are being canceled because of the government shutdown, but the president isn’t grounded. He’s expected to jet down to Florida’s Palm Beach today to spend the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, his private resort.
Travelers shift travel plans with delays rising at US airports
In the scramble to find alternatives to flying, Hertz is reporting a sharp increase in one-way car rentals. One-way reservations have spiked more that 20% through this weekend compared with the same period last year.
Hertz CEO Gil West urged Congress to restore certainty for travelers, saying “Every day of delay creates unnecessary disruption.”
Shutdown blocks jobs report but hiring likely weak
There was no jobs report Friday morning for the second month in a row because of the government shutdown, denying Wall Street analysts, economists and everyday Americans closely-watched figures such as the unemployment rate and the number of jobs gained or lost in October.
Still, a raft of alternative data from mostly private-sector companies suggest job gains remained weak last month. Payroll processor ADP said earlier this week that just 42,000 jobs were added in October, a small gain after two months of declines. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimates the unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.4% from 4.3% when it was last reported in August.
For those out of work, sluggish hiring has resulted in longer spells of unemployment, an unusual trend outside recessions.
▶ Read more about the “no hire” job market
Has this happened before?
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said this week that he’s never seen these kinds of measures taken before in his nearly four-decade experience in the aviation field.
“We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns,” he said.
Staffing problems led to delays throughout October, but they were mostly isolated and temporary. Last weekend, though, saw a change.
From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, is well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.
Which airports are affected?
The 40 airports selected by the FAA for reductions span more than two dozen states and include hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami and Newark, according to an order published by the agency Thursday evening. A full list of affected airports can be found here.
Tips for passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled during the shutdown can be found here.
Airlines said they would try to minimize impact on customers
Some planned to focus on slashing routes to and from small and medium-size cities.
Carriers are required to refund customers whose flights are canceled but not to cover secondary costs such as food and hotel accommodations unless a delay or cancellation results from a contributing factor that is within the control of the airlines, according to the Department of Transportation.
Industry analyst Henry Harteveldt warned that the reductions will “have a noticeable impact across the U.S. air transportation system.”
More than 815 flights have been called off nationwide, according to FlightAware
Delta Air Lines said it would scratch roughly 170 flights Friday, and American Airlines planned to cut 220 a day through Monday.
The FAA said the reductions would start at 4% and ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14.
