FAA announces planned flight reductions at 40 major airports—including county-owned airports—amid ongoing government shutdown

Key Takeaways

On November 6, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced plans to reduce the number of flights in and out of 40 major airports across the U.S. starting Friday, November 7. The FAA has instructed airlines to begin by eliminating 4 percent of flights at affected airports, before increasing that number to 10 percent.  

This move is driven by ongoing air traffic controller staffing shortages due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. Since the start of the shutdown, air traffic controllers have gone more than a month without being paid while still being required to show up for work. While counties, cities and independent airport authorities own and operate most airports in the country, the FAA is responsible for nearly all air traffic controller staffing.

Of the 40 airports that will see flight reductions, several are owned and operated by counties, including Miami International Airport (owned by Miami-Dade County), Philadelphia International Airport (owned by the City and County of Philadelphia) and Harry Reid International Airport (owned by the Clark County Commission).

NACo will continue to monitor the impacts of this decision on county-owned and supported airports. Similarly, NACo has called on Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to end the federal government shutdown.