The Federal Aviation Administration is reducing flights at 40 major airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The shutdown, which started on October 1 and lasted more than 40 days, forced about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security inspectors to work without pay.
The FAA has reduced the number of flights by about 6% due to safety concerns, but some airports have been far more affected than others, according to data from Flightaware.
Over the weekend, major international airports saw a sudden increase in canceled flights. Here are the companies most affected:
Cancellation rate by departure airport
Of the 40 airports affected by FAA flight reductions due to closures, the following 38 airports experienced high numbers of cancellations between Nov. 7 and 11:15 a.m. Nov. 10, according to Flightaware data:
Even before the shutdown, the FAA had long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers. In May, USA TODAY reported that the FAA was short 3,000 air traffic controllers nationwide.
Where most flights have been canceled across the United States
Air traffic controllers continued to work without pay as essential personnel during the grounding. But the FAA ordered airlines to cancel 4% of their flights over the weekend because some people were unable to come because they were looking for other jobs to make ends meet amid the gridlock in Congress. More than 10,000 flights were delayed on November 9th.
Bert Jansen, USA TODAY Contributor
