Airlines had already started cutting services ahead of today’s 6am ET directive to reduce traffic at 40 major airports
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of US politics with the effects of the record-breaking government shutdown continuing to bite as flight reductions at 40 major US airports begin at 6am ET.
United, Southwest and Delta airlines already began cancelling flights last night with airports in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to be affected after the the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said air traffic must be reduced by 4% from this morning.
On Thursday evening, Delta said it will be cancelling 170 flights on today and “fewer” on Saturday because it is a lighter travel day. Southwest said it will cancel 120 flights for Friday and United said it plans to cut 4% of its flights Friday through Sunday.
There’s a full list of affected airports here.
