🔗 Share this article Administration Reduces US Flights as Shutdown Stretches On With the historic federal government shutdown stretches toward day 38, US airspace is about to get less congested. The same cannot be said for US airports. Precautionary Steps Enacted Donald Trump’s aviation regulatory body has said air travel is being curtailed to uphold air traffic control security during the federal government closure, now the longest recorded and with no apparent progress of a agreement between GOP lawmakers and liberal officials to end the federal budget standoff. Airline regulators selected “high-volume markets” where the FAA says air traffic requires reduction by 4% by 6 a.m. Eastern on Friday, a move that would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create a series of scheduling issues and hold-ups at some of the nation’s largest airports. Administration Remarks The administration's transportation head, Sean Duffy, commented on social media Thursday that the decision was “not politically driven” but rather “involving evaluation the data and reducing building risk in the system as controllers continue working without pay”. “Air travel remains secure today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the preventive measures we are taking,” Duffy stated. Travel Disruptions Analysts forecast numerous potentially thousands of flights could be canceled. The cuts may constitute approximately 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats total, based on an estimate by the aviation analytics firm Cirium. Affected Airports The involved terminals spanning more than two dozen states include the highest-volume locations across the US – featuring Atlanta, CLT, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Orlando, California gateway, Florida hotspot and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities – including NYC, Houston and Illinois hub – various airports will be affected. The trio of airports serving the nation's capital region – IAD, BWI Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington national – will be affected, certainly generating schedule changes for government officials as well as additional passengers. Other Developments Below is the list of US airports decreasing flights on Friday because of federal government shutdown. An ex-DOJ worker who tossed food at a federal agent during Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in the capital received a not guilty verdict of assault by a DC jury on Thursday marking another legal rejection of the federal involvement. Some Democratic legislators interpreted Tuesday’s major voting successes as proof they should hold the line and extract as much as possible from GOP members before approving the termination of the lengthiest federal closure in history. Democratic officials lauded Nancy Pelosi as a “bold, groundbreaking” member of the US House of Representatives, an “symbol” and the “most accomplished leader in American history”, after her announcement that after 20 terms in Congress she plans to retire. The thinktank head, the director of the political research group behind the conservative initiative, has apologized for backing the commentator's interview with Hitler supporter Nick Fuentes, but is declining demands to step down.