Flights to Be Reduced By Up to 10% at Major Airports Amid Government Shutdown: November 2025 Travel Alert

Representatives of airlines that are based in the United States stressed that they would try to minimize disruption for customers as they scramble today, Thursday, November 6, 2025 to adjust their flight schedules and answer questions from numerous customers, as rebooking efforts were underway as the result of a directive for flights to be reduced by up to 10% at 40 major airports in the United States amid the current shutdown of the federal government.

Flights to Be Reduced By Up to 10% at Major Airports Amid Government Shutdown: November 2025 Travel Alert

The steep reduction of flights was ordered in a directive by Sean Duffy — who is the current secretary of transportation of the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States — because of risks with air traffic control safety risks from the current government shutdown, which at 37 days is now the longest in the history of the United States. The reduction of capacity will supposedly keep airspaces around the country maintained while simultaneously relieving some pressure on as many as 13,000 air traffic controllers, who have been forced to work without pay.

The reduction of flights is expected to occur in phases, as up to:

• Four percent of scheduled flights will become effective as soon as tomorrow, Friday, November 7, 2025
• Five percent of scheduled flights will become effective as soon as Saturday, November 8, 2025
• Six percent of scheduled flights will become effective as soon as Sunday, November 9, 2025
• Ten percent of scheduled flights will become effective as early as Monday, November 10, 2025

In addition to the air traffic controllers, as many as 50,000 agents of the Transportation Security Administration have also been forced to work without pay — which has raised fears of travel disruptions during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, as many workers may “call in sick”.

The Federal Aviation Administration itself is short by approximately 3,500 members of its staff; and many of them were working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown of the government.

At least 3.2 million travelers have been affected by tens of thousands of flight delays throughout the country that have already occurred as a result from the shortages of staff.

The following 40 airports that are expected to be affected by the reduction of flights are listed in alphabetical order of the cities which they serve:

1. Anchorage, Alaska — ANC
2. Atlanta, Georgia — ATL
3. Baltimore, Maryland — BWI
4. Boston, Massachusetts — BOS
5. Charlotte, North Carolina — CLT
6. Chicago, Illinois — MDW
7. Chicago, Illinois — ORD
8. Cincinnati, Ohio — CVG
9. Dallas, Texas — DAL
10. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas — DFW
11. Denver, Colorado — DEN
12. Detroit, Michigan — DTW
13. Fort Lauderdale, Florida — FLL
14. Honolulu, Hawaii — HNL
15. Houston-Hobby, Texas — HOU
16. Houston, Texas — IAH
17. Indianapolis, Indiana — IND
18. Las Vegas, Nevada — LAS
19. Los Angeles, California — LAX
20. Louisville, Kentucky — SDF
21. New York, New York — JFK
22. New York, New York — LGA
23. Newark, New Jersey — EWR
24. Memphis, Tennessee — MEM
25. Miami, Florida — MIA
26. Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota — MSP
27. Oakland, California — OAK
28. Ontario, California — ONT
29. Orlando, Florida — MCO
30. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — PHL
31. Phoenix, Arizona — PHX
32. Portland, Oregon — PDX
33. Salt Lake City, Utah — SLC
34. San Diego, California — SAN
35. San Francisco, California — SFO
36. Seattle, Washington — SEA
37. Tampa, Florida — TPA
38. Teterboro, New Jersey — TEB
39. Washington, District of Columbia – Dulles, Virginia — IAD
40. Washington, District of Columbia – National Airport — DCA

Delta Air Lines has published an identical list, minus Teterboro Airport, from which they do not operate out of.

Flight Waivers, Delays, and Cancellations

If you are traveling within the United States, expect delays and cancellations of flights until further notice. Keep up to date on the latest information pertaining to the directive from the Federal Aviation Administration which may adversely affect your travel plans. Postponing or canceling your trip might be a better option until the shutdown of the federal government of the United States finally ends.

If you have a flight scheduled, your flight may be delayed or canceled — and you may be eligible for a waiver of a fee to change your itinerary.

Here are nine airlines which have issued travel alerts as a result of the planned reduction of flights:

• American Airlines has issued the following statement: “Due to the ongoing government shutdown and nationwide air traffic control staffing shortages, the FAA has directed airlines to reduce flight schedules to maintain safe airspace operations beginning Friday, Nov. 7. Flights on Thursday, Nov. 6, will operate as planned. While we are awaiting additional information from the FAA to determine which flights will be impacted, we expect the vast majority of our customers’ travel will be unaffected. As schedule changes are made, we will proactively reach out to customers who are impacted. As always, we encourage all customers to check their flight status on aa.com or the mobile app. In the meantime, we continue to urge leaders in Washington to reach an immediate resolution to end the shutdown.”
• Delta Air Lines has issued travel alerts for 39 airports from the aforementioned list for Friday, November 7, 2025 through Sunday, November 9, 2025; and Sunday, November 16, 2025 is the last day on which tickets must be reissued and rebooked travel must begin.
• United Airlines has issued travel alerts for Guam, Hong Kong, and nine airports in nine states for Thursday, November 6, 2025 through Thursday, November 13, 2025. You can reschedule your trip and the change fees and fare differences will be waived — but your new flight must be a flight operated by United Airlines departing between six days before and six days after your original travel date. Tickets must be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked. If you cancel or do not take your trip, you can get a full refund.
• Southwest Airlines has issued the following statement: “Southwest Airlines is determining the scheduling adjustments needed to meet the required FAA flight reductions.  While the vast majority of our Customers’ flights will not be disrupted, all Southwest Customers, with travel booked through Wednesday, November 12, may adjust their travel plans at no cost, or receive a refund if they choose not to travel, regardless of whether their flight is affected. We will communicate directly with affected Customers as soon as possible. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of our Customers and Employees.”
• JetBlue Airways has issued travel alerts for Kingston and Montego Bay “As you may have read in the news, the FAA has directed all airlines to reduce flight schedules beginning Friday, November 7, 2025. JetBlue is actively monitoring the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) planned flight reductions and evaluating potential impacts to our schedule. We are committed to keeping our customers informed and will communicate any changes as soon as possible. If your flight is affected, we’ll reach out using the contact information in your reservation.
  • In most cases, we’ll automatically rebook you on the next available JetBlue flight.
  • If your flight is canceled and you decide not to travel, you can request a full refund.”
• Frontier Airlines has issued a systemwide travel alert for Thursday, November 6, 2025 through Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
• Spirit Airlines has issued the following statement: “The FAA has directed airlines to reduce flight schedules, starting on Friday, Nov. 7, as a result of the government shutdown. While we are closely monitoring the situation, we expect to operate the vast majority of our flights. We will work to minimize any impacts to our Guests.
  • If your flight is affected, we’ll reach out using the contact information in your reservation.
  • If your flight is canceled and you decide not to travel, you will have the option to receive a full refund, or we can rebook you on the next available Spirit flight.”
• Sun Country Airlines has issued the following statement: “The FAA is directing airlines to cut flights in response to the ongoing government shutdown. Sun Country will be adjusting our flight schedules beginning Friday, November 7. We encourage all our customers who are traveling in the next few days to check their flight status via Suncountry.com or our mobile app.”
• Avelo Airlines has issued the following statement, in part: “We will begin adjusting our flight schedules as early as Friday, November 7, and will continue to make updates as needed. Our goal is to give you several days’ advance notice of any changes, helping to minimize disruption and keep your travel plans as smooth as possible. Most of Avelo’s flights do not operate out of the 40 airports impacted. However, there may be some impact to Avelo flights, including at the following 11 airports: Orlando (MCO), Tampa (TPA), Atlanta (ATL), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (HOU), New Orleans (MSY), Detroit (DTW), Chicago (ORD), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Baltimore (BWI), and Washington Dulles (IAD). We will carefully assess flights in and out of these airports and make thoughtful schedule changes that support the FAA’s efforts and minimize disruptions to customers.”

Politics as Usual Just Does Not Cut It Anymore If You Want Real Change

One thing I have learned over the years as a lifelong resident of the United States is that effecting real change towards a better country will not come about by voting for candidates from either the Democratic party or the Republican party. Both parties seem to increasingly represent extremes which only serve to further drive a wedge in dividing the United States instead of — well — uniting the country.

The country — even the entire planet, for that matter — needs to come together more than ever if we are to tackle and solve the problems and issues which we face as human beings: eliminating violence, preventing wanton destruction of property, unreasonable financial inequality, unfair racial and religious injustice, beneficial progress in technology, freedom to travel and cross borders while protecting them, ending terrorism and crime, ensuring reasonably healthy living conditions for all, and giving every person a chance to be heard and be included in deciding our future.

As I originally wrote in this article pertaining to the “middle seat” in society these days, I have always felt that society in general is like a vehicle which goes way too far to the left at times — spinning its wheels in the mud in the ditch — and then overcorrects and goes way too far to the right to do the same inefficient thing…

…and the sad part is that although a new straight road with smooth clean black asphalt is available — which would get the vehicle to its destination and goal much faster — the driver nevertheless chooses to continue to keep zigging and zagging and tracking mud while unnecessarily creating a mess and never really getting anywhere.

As long as people vote for Republicans or Democrats, the United States will continue to alternate veering too far to the left and veering too far to the right instead of simply going straight in a forward direction and getting things done correctly. Even worse is the growing movement by disenfranchised people for socialism to take over the United States, as socialism never works.

We will continue to be deeply divided as a society without actually listening to each other, finding common ground on which to unite, and working towards resolving the issues which plague our world, we will never accomplish achieving our goals and dreams of advancing together as a species. The time is long overdue for all of us to meet in the middle and strive to continuously improve instead of needlessly battling with no productive outcome. We need to communicate with each other, collaborate as a show of strength, and compromise — while simultaneously disagreeing in a respectful matter when necessary — and not simply blindly choose sides without keeping an open mind, without questioning what does not make sense to us, and eschew discussing the points of view of each other.

I believe that we as a society are — or, at least, should be — much better than this.

Final Boarding Call

Unfortunately, travel in general is not free from politics. I would argue that in 2025, travel has been affected by politics more than ever — including the current shutdown of the federal government of the United States. If not for political agendas, travel would not be in danger of being restricted by the reduction of commercial flights.

Government shutdowns are what happens when selfish and incompetent politicians care only about themselves and the political parties which they represent and not the constituents whom they are supposed to be serving — so if you are a politician, here is a message for you:

I do not care at all whether you are Republican or Democrat. As an elected official, you have an obligation to serve the people. End of story.

Tell me: are you still earning your salary on a regular basis while air traffic controllers and other employees of the federal government go without paychecks so that they cannot do silly things like eat, pay rents or mortgages, or use utilities to stay warm or cool?

If you are not interested in serving the people or caring about their plights that you caused, you need to resign immediately.

The fact that neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor the Department of Transportation has any official notice posted on their official Internet web sites or social media at the time this article was posted — especially as the news of the reductions was confirmed only two days before they become effective — is inexcusable and unacceptable.

There has got to be a better way…

All photographs ©2016, ©2020, ©2024, and ©2025 by Brian Cohen.