Trump administration will reduce traffic at 40 airports across the US starting Friday if shutdown continues

By CNN Newsource

Published November 5, 2025 2:28 PM

By Alexandra Skores, Pete Muntean, CNN

Washington (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration will reduce flights at dozens of major airports as early as Friday if no shutdown deal is reached, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced at a news conference Wednesday.

Ten percent of air traffic at 40 busy airports would be cut, potentially impacting thousands of flights, though the details of how many flights was not announced.

The nation’s “core 30” airports – including New York City’s three big hubs, plus major airports in Washington, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and across the West from Phoenix to Seattle – are among those on a preliminary list of sites expected to be impacted by the drawdown, an FAA source with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN.

“As we start to implement this drawdown in service. It will be restricted to these 40 high volume traffic markets,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. “We’re going to ask the airlines to work with us collaboratively to reduce their schedules.”

The drawdown is “the right thing to do,” National Transportation Safety Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy posted early Thursday on X, adding, “pressures are building in the system.”

The announcement comes as air traffic controller staffing shortages during the shutdown are delaying an increasing number of flights throughout the country. Controllers will miss their second full paycheck next week and some are taking second jobs to make ends meet or calling in sick in protest.

Controllers, like Transportation Security Administration screeners, are considered essential employees and must work during the shutdown, but are not being paid.

“Controllers are dedicated safety professionals,” Homendy posted. Duffy “can’t just ignore it; he took action to mitigate risk and ensure safety. THIS is safety management, the very foundation of our aviation system, and it’s the right thing to do.”

The FAA was scheduled to meet Wednesday night with airlines to discuss implementation of the new plan. The change is “prescriptive” and “surgical,” Bedford called.

“We are going to proactively make decisions that keep the airspace safe,” Duffy said.

“We have asked (air traffic controllers) to show up for work, but I’m not naive to understand that they’re trying to figure out how they meet their daily obligations,” Duffy said. “Because of that, we have seen staffing pressures throughout our airspace. Those who travel will see that we’ve had more delays. We’ve had more cancelations.”

More than 400 staffing shortages have been reported at FAA facilities since the start of the shutdown, according to a CNN analysis. The number is more than four times what was seen on the same days last year.

The airlines were notified of the plan only about an hour before it was announced, an airline source told CNN.

“We are working with the federal government to understand all details of the new reduction mandate and will strive to mitigate impacts to passengers and shippers,” Airlines for America, the industry trade group, said in a statement.

Schedule reductions will begin Friday and gradually increase throughout the weekend and into next week, a source with knowledge of airline plans told CNN.

Airlines are being told to cut 4% of flights starting Friday multiple airline officials told CNN. However, others caution that plans are preliminary and things could change.

Bedford said the new measures would also go beyond commercial airspace and include restrictions on space launches and small aircraft traffic in certain markets.

“I want to applaud the controllers who continue to come to work on a daily basis keeping our system safe,” Bedford said. “But I also want to recognize the fact that the data is telling us we need to do more.”

Airlines prepare for cuts

Most major airlines said the impact would be limited or said they’re evaluating the potential impact.

Multiple airline officials told CNN they are treating the government-mandated scaling back of their flight schedules like they would deal with mass cancelations due to a snow storm.

The no-frills carrier Frontier warned passengers to book a backup ticket or risk “being stranded.”

“If your flight is cancelled your chances of being stranded are high so I would simply have a backup ticket on another airline,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle wrote in a statement. “I’m sorry this is happening. Hopefully the shutdown is over soon.”

Frontier said in a statement that passengers with a canceled or 3-hour or more delayed domestic flight (or six for international) will be able to rebook or request a refund online. A flexible travel policy has also been issued for any traveler wanting to change their plans.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a memo to employees that its “long-haul international flying” and “hub-to-hub flying” wouldn’t be affected. The airline will focus cuts on regional flights and domestic mainline flights that don’t travel between hubs.

United Airlines will preemptively cancel less than 200 flights starting tomorrow, the airline told CNN. That’s roughly 4% of United’s Friday schedule and is comprised of mostly regional flights. United says it will cancel about 4% again on Saturday and Sunday.

“That’s important to maintain the integrity of our network, give impacted customers as many options as possible to resume their trip, and sustain our crew pairing systems,” he wrote.

All passengers with flights during this period are eligible for a refund, even for nonrefundable tickets, Kirby wrote.

Delta Air Lines tells CNN it is preemptively canceling roughly 170 mainline and regional flights on Friday.

“We are providing additional flexibility to all of our customers during the impacted travel period to change, cancel or refund their flights, including our basic economy fares, without penalty,” Delta said in a statement.

American Airlines said it expects that the “vast majority” of its customers’ fights would not be affected and long-haul international service will remain as scheduled.

“In the meantime, we continue to urge leaders in Washington, DC, to reach an immediate resolution to end the shutdown,” the airline said in a statement.

Travelers flying American whose flights are cancelled for any reason or who choose not to travel will be able to change their flight or request a refund, without any penalty, the airline said.

A Southwest Airlines spokesperson urged Congress to “immediately resolve its impasse” and said the airline is determining the schedule adjustments needed to meet the FAA flight reductions. Around 100 Southwest flights will be canceled Friday, according to airline.

Southwest said all travel booked through Nov. 14 can be adjusted at no cost or receive a refund, regardless if the passenger was affected by the cuts.

Here are the 40 airports that will see cuts

ANC | Anchorage International
ATL | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
BOS | Boston Logan International
BWI | Baltimore/Washington International
CLT | Charlotte Douglas International
CVG | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
DAL | Dallas Love
DCA | Ronald Reagan Washington National
DEN | Denver International
DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth International
DTW | Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County
EWR | Newark Liberty International
FLL | Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International
HNL | Honolulu International
HOU | Houston Hobby
IAD | Washington Dulles International
IAH | George Bush Houston Intercontinental
IND | Indianapolis International
JFK | New York John F Kennedy International
LAS | Las Vegas McCarran International
LAX | Los Angeles International
LGA | New York LaGuardia
MCO | Orlando International
MDW | Chicago Midway
MEM | Memphis International
MIA | Miami International
MSP | Minneapolis/St Paul International
OAK | Oakland International
ONT | Ontario (California) International
ORD | Chicago O’Hare International
PDX | Portland International
PHL | Philadelphia International
PHX | Phoenix Sky Harbor International
SAN | San Diego International
SDF | Louisville International
SEA | Seattle/Tacoma International
SFO | San Francisco International
SLC | Salt Lake City International
TEB | Teterboro
TPA | Tampa International

CNN’s Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.

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