It's not a great week to fly. On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration canceled hundreds of planned flights at 40 high-traffic US airports due to a record-long government shutdown that has affected air traffic controllers. The controllers are working without pay and were already shorthanded even before the disruption began on Oct. 1. Flight cuts began at 4% Friday, will bump up to 5% Saturday and ramp up to 10% next week.
According to CNN, airlines canceled more than 800 flights as of about 4:30 a.m. ET Friday, reportedly four times the number of flights canceled the day before.
NBC News reports that several airports across the country have issued staffing triggers, indicating that they lack sufficient staff to operate their regular schedules.
There's no set end time for the flight reduction, which could spread beyond those 40 airports. Looming in the background is the high-volume holiday travel season.
A representative for the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier in the week, airline employees had already begun bracing for potential flight disruptions. On Wednesday morning, CNET Senior Editor Corinne Reichert was buckled into her seat on a Southwest Airlines aircraft, getting ready for an in-state flight in California. While on the runway, the pilot informed passengers that it was unclear whether the shutdown would affect that day's flights and advised: "Keep your fingers crossed."
Read on below for what to know about traveling amid the government shutdown. And for other travel tips, see our smart travel checklist, guidelines on travel essentials to pack and how to avoid TSA checkpoint headaches.
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Is my airport affected?
Almost certainly. These are the 40 airports currently affected, listed in alphabetical order by their three-letter airport code.
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