U.S. Transportation Secretary warns: If government shutdown does not end, it will force a 20% reduction in flights.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Doherty warned on Friday that if the government shutdown does not end, he may force airlines to cut as many as 20% of their flights. Meanwhile, American Airlines Group Inc. is scrambling to respond to the unprecedented government order to reduce flights. Due to the government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut 4% of flights at 40 major airports on Friday. This reduction will increase to 10% on November 14th. In addition, the absence of air traffic controllers on Friday forced the Federal Aviation Administration to delay hundreds of flights at 10 airports, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Washington D.C., and Newark. According to data from flight tracking website FlightAware as of Friday evening at 7:30 pm Eastern Time, over 5300 flights have been delayed. At Reagan Washington National Airport, flights are experiencing an average delay of 4 hours, 17% of flights are canceled, and nearly 40% of flights are delayed. During the record 38-day government shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security personnel have been forced to work without pay, leading to an increase in absenteeism. Many air traffic controllers received notices on Thursday that they would not receive their paychecks for the second time next week. The Trump administration is increasing pressure on congressional Democrats to agree to the Republican government funding plan to restart the government, with the risk of severe disruption to air travel being one of the measures. Democrats believe that Republicans should be held responsible for the shutdown because they refuse to negotiate on extending healthcare subsidies. Doherty told reporters that if the situation worsens and more controllers don't show up for work, he may demand a 20% reduction in air traffic volume. "I will be evaluating data," Doherty said. "We will make decisions based on what we see in the airspace." The reduction measures began at 6 am Eastern Time on Friday, affecting four major airlines - American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL.US), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL.US), Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV.US), and United Airlines (UAL.US) - with approximately 700 flights. If the shutdown continues, the reduction will increase to 6% on Tuesday and reach 10% on November 14th. New York Governor Casey Hochul posted a photo of a flight information screen at an airport full of canceled flights, writing, "The Republican shutdown is crippling America - just before the holidays!" Earlier this week, Federal Aviation Administration Director Brian Bedford said there are up to 20% to 40% of controllers absent every day. American Airlines Group Inc.: Further reductions will become a "problem" American Airlines Group Inc. CEO Robert Isom said on Friday that he doesn't expect the initial flight reductions ordered by the government to significantly impact passengers, but he warned that the impact will worsen over time. "These levels of cancellations will increase as time goes on, and that will become a problem," Isom said in an interview. American Airlines Group Inc. said that the cancellation of 220 flights on Friday affected around 12,000 passengers, with the majority being rebooked within a few hours. The reduced flights will continue over the weekend due to lower scheduled flight volumes. United Airlines stated that half of the affected passengers were able to rebook within four hours of their original departure time. The airline canceled 184 flights on Friday, is expected to cancel 168 on Saturday, and 158 on Sunday. Doherty initially announced on Wednesday that flights would be cut by 10% on Friday. However, on Friday he stated that the agency decided to start with a 4% reduction in phases to minimize disruption. Doherty said that this decision is based on safety data, including incidents where aircraft failed to maintain spacing and incursions on the ground. The Federal Aviation Administration is also restricting space launches, which could lead to a reduction of up to 10% of private aircraft flights at busy airports. International flights are not affected.