The US faces Thanksgiving chaos as shutdown leads to more flight cuts

The Trump administration warned US air traffic could be reduced to a “trickle” before the Thanksgiving holiday this month as the impact of the federal government shutdown intensified over the weekend in major airports across the country.

- Anna Betts

The Federal Aviation Administration last week mandated a 4% reduction in air traffic in response to the ongoing shutdown, which yesterday entered its 40th day and has led to air-traffic controllers going without pay. If the shutdown continues, the FAA has instructed airlines to cut 6% of flights tomorrow - and to do the same to 10% by 14 November.

The US transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, warned that flight reductions could reach 20% if the shutdown persisted. Yesterday he predicted a “substantial” number of people in the US would be unable to celebrate the holidays with their families if the shutdown was not resolved.

“You're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle,” Duffy said on CNN. “We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays. They want to see their family ... Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up.”