Airlines cancel more than 700 U.S. flights as FAA-ordered shutdown cuts begin

U.S. airlines started cancelling hundreds of flights connected Friday, hours aft the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the cuts amid the more-than-monthlong authorities shutdown.

The cuts were ordered arsenic aerial postulation controllers person missed their paychecks owed to the authorities shutdown, present the longest successful U.S. history. Air postulation power staffing shortages person been disrupting flights astatine respective large U.S. airports, vexing travelers and hose executives alike.

The abrupt formation cuts this week forced airlines to scramble with docket adjustments and marque definite crews are wherever they request to beryllium contempt the last-minute changes.

More than 700 U.S. flights were canceled arsenic of 9 a.m. ET Friday, according to aviation information steadfast Cirium, astir 3% of the full docket for the day. Cancellations could ramp up from there, the Department of Transportation warned successful the associated order.

The disruptions travel during a mostly low-demand play for question up of the Thanksgiving holiday, but it still sent galore travelers searching for alternatives. Rental car institution Hertz said that reservations implicit the past 2 days for one-way rentals spiked much than 20% from the aforesaid play past year.

Major web airlines said the disruptions were mostly centered connected determination flights that alert to smaller cities. United Airlines, for example, said its hub-to-hub flying and its long-haul planetary flights wouldn't beryllium canceled due to the fact that of the order.

American Airlines canceled 221 flights connected Friday, according to CEO Robert Isom, who said the hose is "frustrated" with the reduction.

Isom said connected CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the hose is moving to guarantee flights to each destinations inactive stay successful place, but that the frequence of those formation paths are decreasing.

"What we've done contiguous is we tried to minimize the interaction connected each of our customers — there's lone 220 flights retired of 6,200, flights, and we've done it successful a mode that truly impacts our smaller aircraft," Isom said. "This level of cancellation is going to turn implicit time, and that's thing that is going to beryllium problematic."

Airlines offered travelers alternate flights and waived alteration fees for affected customers.

AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said the institution recommends arriving astatine the airdrome 2 hours aboriginal to debar agelong lines and debar checking successful a container if imaginable successful lawsuit flights get canceled, though flexibility volition beryllium the astir important for each travelers during this period.

Here's the database of impacted airports, per the FAA and DOT order:

(The airdrome successful Las Vegas was renamed the Harry Reid International Airport successful 2021.)