America's busiest airports, including those in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, were set to face thousands of flight cuts starting on Friday due to the government shutdown, according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press.
The Federal Aviation Administration's order to reduce air traffic at 40 of the busiest airports by 10 per cent across the US includes the popular gateways of Hawaii and Dallas for Australians flying to North America.
With just hours to go, airlines were scrambling to figure out where to cut, and travellers were waiting nervously to see if their flights would take off as scheduled.
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The cutback stands to impact thousands of flights nationwide because the FAA directs more than 44,000 flights daily, including commercial passenger flights, cargo planes and private aircraft.
Some airlines planned to focus on slashing routes to and from small and medium-sized cities.
"This is going to have a noticeable impact across the US air transportation system," industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said.
The FAA said on Wednesday it would reduce air traffic by 10 per cent across "high-volume" markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown.
The affected airports include busy connecting hubs and those in popular tourist destinations, including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Miami, and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities – such as New York, Houston and Chicago – multiple airports will be affected.
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Controllers already have missed one full paycheck and are scheduled to again receive nothing next week as the shutdown drags on.
The FAA has been delaying flights at times when airports or its other facilities are short on controllers.
Even if the government reopens on the weekend, travellers should expect there to be residual impacts from the shutdown as the US public holiday of Thanksgiving approaches, and even in to Christmas, according to the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Nick Daniels.
"It will take us months to come out of all the impacts that it's causing … There were delays before the shutdown. There's obviously delays during the shutdown. There's going to be delays after the shutdown," he said.
