US airlines cancel flights after aviation agency directive to cut air traffic

<p>United, Southwest and Delta have announced they will be reducing flights amid continuing government shutdown</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/nov/06/donald-trump-government-shutdown-venezuela-senate-vote-us-politics-live-news-updates">US politics live – latest updates</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/06/list-airports-flight-cuts-faa">List of US airports cutting flights on Friday due to federal government shutdown</a></p></li></ul><p>United, Southwest and Delta airlines began cancelling flights for Friday in compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration’s directive that will see reductions in flights at 40 major airports from Friday to help address air traffic controller shortage safety concerns as a result of the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-longest-trump-republican-senators-democrats-9712df6c11ef19c5df8f18c8a4f7b341">government shutdown</a>.</p><p>The Associated Press published the list after airline regulators identified “high-volume markets” where the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says air traffic must be reduced by 4% by 6am ET on Friday, a move that would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create a cascade of scheduling issues and delays at some of the nation’s largest airports. The FAA is also imposing restrictions on space launches but not imposing any cuts on international flights.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/06/us-40-airports-traffic-reduced">Continue reading...</a>