FAA Plans 10% Capacity Cut at Major US Airports Amid Government Shutdown

Washington — Due to bottlenecks in air traffic control, the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) is planning to reduce air traffic capacity by 10% at 40 major US airports from Friday if the current government shutdown is not over by then, US authorities said on Wednesday.

Thousands of flights could be affected. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA did not specify which airports and airlines would be affected as they announced the plan.

The move comes as hundreds of thousands of federal employees have either been furloughed or are working without pay amid an ongoing government shutdown triggered by the US Congress' failure to pass a budget.

"Our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible," Duffy said as he announced the move.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that airlines would be asked "to work with us collaboratively to reduce their schedules."

The exact impact on travellers was initially unclear. US media reported that thousands of flights could potentially be affected. According to the FAA, there are an average of 44,000 flights per day in US airspace.

The ongoing US government shutdown has become the longest in US history, reaching its 36th day on Wednesday as Congress remains without an approved federal budget.

For air traffic controllers, this means they will miss a second consecutive full paycheck. According to Duffy, some are doing other jobs on the side to make ends meet and are not coming in to work.

German airlines Lufthansa and Condor did not initially report any flight cancellations on Thursday.

Spokeswomen for the airlines assured that they were monitoring the situation closely and were in contact with authorities.

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