Flight disruptions rapidly increased in number over the weekend, according to Flight Aware’s Misery Map, as many airports were directed to reduce traffic by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The flight reductions, in effect between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time impacting all commercial airlines, began on Friday, with a 4 percent reduction, and are set to go up to 10 percent by November 14.
The FAA’s order, which was implemented to reduce service while air traffic controllers are particularly strained amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, has therefore meant that many flights have had to be canceled over the weekend, with many more delayed.
Why It Matters
The ongoing federal government shutdown, which has been the longest in U.S. history, has been having continuous and significant impacts on air travel nationwide.
However, the shutdown could be nearing its end, as on Sunday, a group of Democratic Senators broke with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to vote with the Republican majority on a deal that would fund the government for several weeks and guarantee a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, set to expire on January 1, which have been a key point of contention.
What To Know
Flight Aware’s Misery Map shows the number of delays and cancellations at certain times throughout the day, based on a four-hour time frame, two hours before and after the specific time.
According to the map, at 4 a.m. Eastern time (calculated based on a time frame between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.) there were 51 delays and 23 cancellations.
At 9 a.m., disruptions quickly soared to 508 delays and 273 cancellations—significantly higher than previous days at that time.
The airports particularly affected at 9 a.m. included Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Georgia (which has 113 disruptions), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Illinois (108), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey (84).
Later in the day, at 2 p.m., the number of delays increased to 1115 at the start of the peak flight time, with 269 cancellations.
Airports particularly affected at that time included Chicago O’Hare International (170 disruptions), Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (117), and LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York (96).
By 7 p.m., toward the end of the peak travel period, the number of flights affected soared to 1406 delays and 481 cancellations.
Chicago O’Hare International had the highest number of disruptions at that time, at 213, followed by Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Texas (144), and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (143).
The flight tracking account @Flighty reported on the social media platform X that across four major airlines—American, Delta, United and Southwest—there were 2,000 canceled flights and 7,000 delays on Sunday.
In total, around 42 percent of flights had reportedly been disrupted by the early evening, and disruptions, @Flighty said, were on track to hit 50 percent.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday: “It looks like we’re getting very close on the shutdown. We’ll never agree to give any substantial money or any money to really, prisoners, illegals that come into our country. And I think the Democrats understand that. And it looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending. You’ll know very soon.”
What Happens Next
The Senate voted 60-40 on the deal, a key step closer to reopening the government. There are still, however, a number of stages to go before the government is reopened.
