Travelers are some 40 of the busiest airports in the nation were preparing themselves to lose flights or, at the very least, have their flight schedules thrown into chaos by the weekend.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered 40 airports to reduce air traffic starting Friday. According to The Associated Press, the order included airports in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago. Detroit Metropolitan Airport was also included in the order. The order came about as a result of the federal government shutdown.
The ripple effect is likely to extend far beyond the targeted airports.
The affected airports include busy connecting hubs and those in popular tourist destinations, including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Miami, and San Francisco, according to the AP report. In some of the biggest cities — such as New York, Houston and Chicago — multiple airports will be affected.
At the direction of the FAA, airlines will phase in the cuts, starting with eliminating 4% of flights at the 40 airports on Friday and working up to 10%, three people familiar with what the agency said, but who were not authorized to discuss it publicly, told the AP.
The cuts could affect as many as 1,800 flights, or upward of 268,000 passengers, per day, according to an estimate by aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Airlines are used to dealing with cutting thousands of flights on short notice during severe weather, but the difference now is that these cuts during the shutdown will last indefinitely until safety data improves, the AP reported.
“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” FAA administrator Bryan Bedford told the AP. “We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”
