{"id":170969,"date":"2025-11-07T11:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T11:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-in-us-as-airlines-scramble-to-cut-traffic-during-shutdown-bbc\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T11:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T11:49:23","slug":"hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-in-us-as-airlines-scramble-to-cut-traffic-during-shutdown-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/hundreds-of-flights-cancelled-in-us-as-airlines-scramble-to-cut-traffic-during-shutdown-bbc\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of flights cancelled in US as airlines scramble to cut traffic during shutdown – BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of flights in the US are cancelled on Friday after airlines were told to cut traffic during the government shutdown<\/a>
Domestic flights at 40 of the country's busiest airports<\/a> will be affected as officials try to ease pressure on air traffic controllers
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says reductions will start at 4% of internal flights before rising to the full 10% by the end of next week – it warns up to 4,000 flights per day could be affected<\/a>
Control towers at airports have been grappling with absences of air traffic controllers, who are either calling in sick or taking side jobs as they work without pay during the federal government shutdown
Several of the largest US airlines are assuring customers they'll be able to get full refunds for the cancelled flights – here's what some, including United and Delta, are saying<\/i><\/a>
Edited by James Gregory and Rorey Bosotti
We can bring you some more lines from Nick Daniels now.
The president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the longer the government shutdown goes on for, the greater the risk.
Air traffic control is a job which requires 100% focus, 100% of the time, Daniels tells the BBC's US partner, CBS News.
But his colleagues are "worried about putting gas in their car, they're worried about putting food on the table, they can't even pay for childcare in some instances", he says.
He says that air traffic controllers have received a partial paycheck going into the shutdown and "for 37 days, they've received zero income for the work that they've done, [and] a lot of times that's 60 hours a week".
The stalemate is "manifesting in anger", Daniels says, adding that it's also harming their mental well-being.
"Today, one of the air traffic controllers was evicted from their apartments," he says.
"Not only are the trainees feeling the pain … it's those who are in mid-career, we're seeing them start to resign too".
"Like many families, we didn't plan for a shutdown. Yet the bills don't stop."
These are the words of one air traffic controller who has had to take up a second job working for a food delivery service to supplement his income – or lack of – during the government shutdown.
Writing recently for MSNBC, the single father says he's working this job after his daily air traffic shift ends and is "sleeping only two hours most nights".
He's one of thousands of air traffic controllers who have now been working without pay for two weeks. Yesterday, many received paychecks in the amount of $0.
The shutdown has exacerbated an already-strained body of federal workers. While some air traffic controllers are working without pay, others are furloughed altogether.
Some are looking for second jobs, like the man above, while others are increasingly calling in sick.
"The controllers are wearing thin," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News on Sunday.
Nick Daniels, the president of the labour union representing more than 20,000 aviation workers, put the situation into stark terms on Wednesday.
"Air traffic controllers are texting: 'I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car to come to work,'" he told CNN.
"We base what we do day in and day out on predictability," he said. "Right now there is no predictability."
In the US there are 14,000 air traffic controllers<\/b> stationed across 527 airport control towers<\/b> – many of whom have not received a cent of their salaries for two weeks.
Together, they handle more than 16,000,000 flights<\/b> every year – that's around 44,000 every single day<\/b>.
At peak times, controllers around the US can be responsible for safely directing more than 5,000 flights at the same time<\/b>.
So, when the FAA says it will start by reducing 4% of domestic flights<\/a>, these are the figures we're subtracting from – and, if this rises to the planned 10% by 14 November, it could mean about 4,000 flights per day being affected.
More than 800 flights scheduled for today have been cancelled, according to tracking website FlightAware, external<\/span><\/a>.
The site says SkyWest has cancelled more than 170 flights, Southwest Airlines has dropped around 120 and United has cut 64.
FlightAware says around 200 flights within, into or out of the US were axed yesterday.
Jack Grey<\/strong>
Live reporter<\/span>
The experience for passengers whose flights have been cancelled will significantly depend on which airline they're flying with, travel expert Simon Calder tells the BBC.
\u201cIf transatlantic flights start being cancelled, then the difference in passenger rights between UK and EU flights and US flights will become clear,\u201d he says.
The FAA has said the cuts won't apply to international flights, but that specific airlines may choose to also axe some of those flights too.
Calder says that at this stage it is highly unlikely that any transatlantic flights will be impacted, with internal "commuter routes" likely to be the first to see cancellations.
But in the event they are, he says those travelling with a UK or EU carrier to the US would be entitled to be put up in a hotel and flown on any <\/i>airline that has seats available.
Those flying with a US airline, even if that ticket was booked via a UK carrier such as British Airways, will not have these protections, he adds.
\u201cIf you\u2019re on a US airline then they can say \u2018we\u2019re not covered by these rights, find yourself your own hotel and we\u2019ll fly you out when we can\u2019.\u201d
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that the decision to cut the number of flights is about safety, not politics.
"This isn\u2019t about politics – it\u2019s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue working without pay," he wrote in a post on X on Thursday evening.
"It\u2019s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the proactive actions we are taking."
Duffy also said last weekend saw more than 2,700 delays at various airports.
\"\"<\/span><\/span>Grace Eliza Goodwin<\/strong>
Reporting from New York<\/span>
Flight reductions will be gradual.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it will be starting at 4% of domestic flights on Friday before rising to 6% by 11 November and 8% by 13 November, hitting the full 10% by 14 November.
The cancellations could affect between 3,500 and 4,000 flights per day.
The US government shutdown has been ongoing since 1 October. Now in its 38th day, it is the longest shutdown in US history.
It means that around 1.4m federal employees are on unpaid leave or are working without pay until government resumes.
While it may sound unusual to those outside the US, shutdowns have been quite common over the past 50 years \u2013 US President Donald Trump oversaw three in his first term.
Shutdowns happen when Congress is unable to agree a new spending plan for the president to sign into law. Democrats and Republicans often remain in gridlock for weeks, with both sides not showing willingness to compromise.
A bill funding government services could not be agreed past 1 October, when the previous federal budget expired.
The last shutdown happened in December 2018, which finally ended in part due to large numbers of air traffic controllers calling in sick after more than a month without pay.
Major airlines are assuring customers they will not be caught out for the costs of cancelled flights.
In a memo to staff that was shared with the BBC, United Airlines<\/b> CEO Scott Kirby said any customer can get a refund on a flight, even if it isn't being cancelled, including customers with non-refundable tickets and basic economy tickets. The airline also said it would waive any fare differences on a re-booked flight.
Delta Airlines<\/b> has implemented a similar policy.
American Airlines<\/b> will allow customers to change a flight or request a refund, without penalty, whether or not their specific flights have been cancelled.
Southwest Airlines<\/b> says that if customers' flights are cancelled, they can re-book or request a refund.
Frontier Airlines<\/b> will let customers change or cancel their flights without a fee, but they will be required to pay any difference in fare on a re-booked flight. CEO Barry Biffle has suggested buying a "backup ticket" if you are heading to a wedding, funeral or an event you must be at.<\/p>\n

The FAA has released the full list of airports that will be experiencing cancellations to domestic flights:
\"\"<\/span><\/span>Grace Eliza Goodwin<\/strong>
Reporting from New York<\/span>
Hundreds of flights in the US are cancelled on Friday as the government shutdown continues.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Wednesday that 10% of domestic flights at 40 major airports across the country are being cut.
The decision has been made because air traffic controllers had been reporting fatigue with a reduced service needed to ensure US airspace remains safe for passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
As essential workers, air traffic controllers are required to continue working, without pay, through the longest shutdown ever in the US. It's caused many workers to become ill with stress and forced some to take on second jobs to keep food on the table, unions say.
Stay with us for updates<\/i> on everything you need to know about the cuts – including why they're happening and how they are affecting travel around the country.
Copyright \u00a9 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hundreds of flights in the US are cancelled on Friday after airlines were told to cut traffic during the government shutdownDomestic flights at 40 of the country's busiest airports will be affected as officials try to ease pressure on air traffic controllers The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says reductions will start at 4% of internal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}