More than 1,500 flights were canceled nationwide on Saturday — with more cancellations expected through Sunday — as the Federal Aviation Administration continued limiting flight capacity at 40 major U.S. airports amid the government shutdown.
As of 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, 1,521 flights had been canceled nationwide and more than 6,400 flights delayed — eclipsing Friday’s toll of 1,024 cancelations.
Major delays at airports across the country continued to persist due to staffing issues in air traffic controller towers and centers.
A flight is listed as cancelled on a display at San Diego International Airport Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in San Diego.
Gregory Bull/AP
By Saturday night, there were over 40 air traffic control staffing triggers at facilities across the country afternoon. There were staffing-related ground stops at airports across the U.S. throughout the day Saturday.
So far, Delta was seeing about 7% of its flights canceled and another 30% delayed. American Airlines and United both had about 3% of their flights Saturday canceled and 30% delayed. Southwest had about 3% of its flights canceled and 25% delayed.
If the government shutdown continues, more air travel reductions could be on the way, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an interview on ABC News Live on Friday.
“My hope is that this government shutdown will end soon and we can get back in the business of letting Americans travel,” Duffy said in the interview.
It is possible the Department of Transportation may ask airlines to cancel more than 10% of their flights if controllers keep calling out in higher numbers, Duffy told ABC News.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 07: An Air France plane takes off over a United Airlines plane at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on November 07, 2025 in San Francisco, California. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is reducing flights by 10 percent at 40 major airports nationwide, including SFO, beginning Friday amid air traffic control staffing shortages resulting from the federal government shutdown.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Duffy said the FAA has asked private jets to avoid flying at the 40 airports impacted by the flight reductions, though they are currently not prohibited from flying there. He said private jet companies have been cooperative and are choosing alternate airports to help alleviate the pressure at those airports.
The cancellations are the latest — and perhaps biggest — disruption to air travel since the government shutdown began more than a month ago.
The FAA decided not to cut any international flights as it would be a violation of international agreements with the countries, according to Duffy.
“We have international agreements that we abide by, and because of those international agreements, I’m not going to impact those international flights. And because if I do, what will happen is we have other countries that are waiting to have a breach of those contracts from the US so they can cut down American flights, and then that would have a very long lasting impact on our ability to to to send travelers from the U.S. to those partners that have the agreements,” Duffy said.
