Prolonged shutdown could force 20% flight cuts, US officials warn

Caroline Silva, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Nov 8, 2025

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ATLANTA — Flight reductions could continue rising if the government shutdown prolongs, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration started reducing flights Friday at 40 major airports, which includes Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Capacity reductions began at 4%, rose to 5% Saturday and will increase to 6% Sunday before ramping up to 10% next week.

The move is to alleviate pressure on the country’s air traffic controllers during the government shutdown. International flights are exempt.

At a Breitbart News event in Washington, D.C., Duffy said the scale-back has been caused by employees choosing to work second jobs to be able to pay bills and other necessities because of the shutdown.

“If this continues and I have more controllers who decide they can’t come to work and control the airspace but instead have to take a second job, with that you might see 10% would’ve been a good number because we might go to 15% or 20%,” he said.

Hartsfield-Jackson is the busiest airport in the world. As a major hub, it is on the list of airports affected — and will also likely see a ripple effect of cancellations and delays elsewhere.

Saturday morning, there had been 81 flight cancellations and more than 110 delays. According to FlightAware, most cancellations have been from Delta and its Delta Connection contract carrier Endeavor Air. That compares with 87 cancellations by the end of Friday.

At around 9 a.m., security wait times remained short.

Delta said it would comply with the cuts but “expects to operate the vast majority of our flights as scheduled, including all long-haul international service.” Delta and its subsidiaries make up about 80% of Atlanta traffic.

Delta is allowing travelers with flights booked through Nov. 14 to cancel their trips and get refunds or rebook flights by Nov. 21. Other airlines have also put in place policies for refunds or flight changes.

Smaller airports across Georgia are facing fewer impacts: Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport has six cancellations, Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field has four, Middle Georgia Regional Airport has none and Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport has 4.