Weekend flight cancellations total 4,500 amid shutdown

More than 4,500 flights were canceled this weekend, as the record-long government shutdown forces the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to scale back air travel to prioritize safety amid staffing shortages.

Flight cancelations totaled 1,566 on Saturday and 2,953 on Sunday, according to FlightAware’s tracker of flights arriving in, departing from or traveling within the U.S.

Sunday marked the first time that cancelations topped 2,000 since the start of the shutdown, which is nearing the end of its sixth week.

Flight delays also plagued U.S. airports this weekend, with 7,545 on Saturday and 10,978 on Sunday.

At 9 a.m. EST on Monday, there were already 1,597 flight cancelations and 1,955 delays.

The reduction in air traffic comes after the FAA announced it was taking the extraordinary step of instructing airlines to reduce flight capacity by 10 percent across 40 “high-traffic” areas in the country, amid staffing shortages and concerns about air safety.

Flight reductions began at 4 percent on Friday and were slated to increase to 6 percent by Nov. 11 and to 8 percent by Nov. 13, according to the Department of Transportation. By Nov. 14, there would be 10 percent fewer flights in U.S. airspace.

The Senate took the first step Sunday night toward ending the funding stalemate in Congress, but final passage of the bill could be days away, and flight disruptions will not subside immediately.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that between 15 and 20 air traffic controllers are retiring daily during the shutdown.