All Three New York City Airports Impacted By ‘Flight Reductions’

If you have travel plans in the near future, and your flights are booked at LaGuardia, JFK or Newark airports, you may want to read closely, stay on top of your flight info, and watch your email for any changes. Experts are saying 'monitor your flights early and often.'

The government shutdown has impacted airport operations significantly over the past month (plus), and I must admit that I was a bit nervous about scheduled international travel I had back on October 19th, but things have shifted significantly since my flights.

Mass Chaos, Flight Delays, Closed Airspace

As reported by Fortune, and echoed across the Associated Press and many other news outlets this week, the warning issued by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about airport operations, disruptions and airspace, is quite concerning.

You will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays, you’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers.

Especially with the busiest travel period of the year (the Thanksgiving holiday) quickly approaching, the U.S. Travel Association has shared that ' the consequences of a continued shutdown will be immediate, deeply felt by millions of American travelers, and economically devastating to communities in every state.'

The recently announced FAA Directive has impacted the three main New York airports, EWR, JFK, LGA, among many other highly traveled destinations across the states like Las Vegas, Orlando, San Francisco, Memphis, Houston, LA, and more.

READ MORE: These NY Airports Will Not Play Noem Video

Flight Reductions Announced Ahead of Busy Holiday Travel Season

During a press conference on Wednesday, November 5th, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced the plans for flight reductions, as reported by Newsweek. He went on to indicate that beginning Friday November 7th, 4% cuts would be implemented, with 5% planned for November 8th, 6% on the 9th, and then 10% reductions by next week at 40 airports.

As an example, coverage from USA Today explained how this announcement will impact Delta operations:

Delta said it expects to cancel approximately 170 flights on Friday, Nov. 7, across both Delta and Delta Connection services. Saturday, Nov. 8, should see fewer cancellations, the airline said, because demand and daily departures are typically lower on weekends. Delta operates about 5,000 flights a day system-wide.

United, who is said to operate about 4,500 flights per day will see a reduction of about 200 flights per day.

It is important to understand that planned travel is still expected to happen, however, customers are asked to be aware of potential delays and disruptions, remain flexible to change their travel dates/times, or modify travel or request a refund, penalty free. Several airlines have shared that customers with planned travel during this time are eligible for refunds and cancelations without penalty.