Flights at 40 major airports including in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are being cut Friday. The FAA says its goal is to reduce flights by up to 10% to ease pressure on unpaid air traffic controllers.
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.
The 40 airports selected by the FAA span more than two dozen states and include hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the order.
In some metropolitan areas, including New York, Houston, Chicago and Washington, multiple airports will be impacted, while the ripple effects could reach smaller airports as well.
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.
