LAST UPDATE | 7 Nov

MORE THAN 1,200 flights were cancelled across the United States today after the Trump administration ordered reductions to ease pressure on air traffic controllers working without pay amid the ongoing government shutdown.

Forty airports saw flights cancelled, including major hubs in Atlanta, Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.

Republicans and Democrats have been locked in a bitter standoff over spending priorities, including healthcare, for the last six weeks.

As a result, US Congress has ground to a standstill and vast numbers of government employees, including vital airport staff, are either working without pay or furloughed at home.

The flight reductions began today and will continue over the coming days, starting at 4% and rising to 10% next week if US Congress still hasn’t reached a funding deal. Thousands of flights are expected to be impacted. 

In a statement, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the order to reduce flights “does not require a reduction in international flights”.

It means the reduction will mostly apply to domestic flights in the US, although the order states that airlines “may use their own discretion to decide which flights are canceled to reach the order’s goal”. 

As a result, there is no disruption expected for US flights to and from Ireland.

“As it stands, we’re not expecting any disruption to flights between Dublin and North America but we continue to monitor the situation closely,” DAA spokesperson Graeme McQueen told The Journal. 

“As always, passengers should contact their airline directly for updates regarding their flight.”

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus told The Journal that it is aware of the reductions being implemented. 

“It has been confirmed to Aer Lingus that international airlines are exempt from the reductions. To date, Aer Lingus operations have not experienced any significant delays related to US air traffic issues.”

A United Airlines spokesperson confirmed to The Journal that its hub-to-hub and international flights “will not be impacted by this schedule reduction”, while a spokesperson for American Airlines said it did not have any transatlantic flights impacted.

More than 1,200 US flights scheduled for today were canceled, according to tracking website FlightAware.

The most affected airports were Chicago O’Hare, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth, according to data analyzed by AFP.

The flight reduction measures come as the country enters its busiest travel time of the year, with Thanksgiving just weeks away.

“This will get serious if things drag on to Thanksgiving,” retiree Werner Buchi told AFP at New York’s LaGuardia airport as he waited for his daughter to arrive on a flight from Wilmington, North Carolina.

Rhonda, 65 – who arrived at LaGuardia without a hitch from Portland, Maine – worried about holiday plans “that could be ruined because people won’t talk to each other. This is hurting a lot of people,” she said.

The US Senate is expected to try for the 15th time to approve a short-term, House-passed funding measure today that would reopen the government – but the vote is expected to fail like the previous 14.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed Democrats, saying they should vote to reopen the government.

“If Democrats are going to go home this weekend, and they’ve kept the government shut down, that’s shameful,” Duffy told reporters at Reagan National Airport.

However, Republicans control Congress and Democrats have said they will refuse to sign off on the majority party’s budget plans, including severe healthcare cuts.

With reporting from © AFP 2025