RDU braces for cancellations as FAA orders airlines to cut their schedules
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- FAA orders 10% schedule cuts at 40 airports to ease controller workload.
- RDU not listed among the 40 affected airports, but officials warn of local travel impacts.
- American and Delta expect most flights to operate; they will rebook or refund passengers.
The Federal Aviation Administration has directed airlines to reduce flight schedules starting Friday to help maintain safety during the federal government shutdown, but it’s not yet clear how those reductions will affect travelers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
The 10% reduction will be phased in over several days and will concentrate on 40 airports, including most major hubs. RDU is not among them, but many of the places to which Triangle residents fly will be affected.
RDU officials don’t know which or how many flights might be canceled, but “there will be impacts,” said Bill Sandifer, the airport’s executive vice president.
“We’re just going to have to wait and see how the airlines manage that process,” Sandifer said Thursday morning. “That’s really between FAA and the airlines, because they control the air traffic. We’re just watching what’s going on just like all of you.”
American Airlines, which handles more than a quarter of all passengers at RDU, said customers whose flights are canceled or who choose not to fly will be able to change their flights or request a refund without penalty while the FAA directive is in place.
“We expect the vast majority of our customers’ travel will be unaffected, and long-haul international travel will remain as scheduled,” American said in a statement. “As schedule changes are made, we’ll proactively reach out to customers who are impacted.”
Delta Air Lines, the busiest carrier at RDU, said it also expects to operate “the vast majority” of its flights as scheduled, including all long-haul international ones. Delta will also rebook or refund affected passengers.
“We will work to give customers as much notice as possible about any changes to their flights and apologize for any inconvenience these changes may cause,” the airline said in a statement.
The flight reductions are designed to ease the workload for air traffic controllers, who have remained on the job since the government shutdown began Oct. 1. They received a partial paycheck early in the month, but last week they got nothing, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a labor union.
“For this nation’s air traffic controllers, missing just one paycheck can be a significant hardship, as it is for all working Americans,” Daniels said. “Asking them to go without a full month’s pay or more is simply not sustainable.”
The air traffic control system was already short-staffed before the shutdown, Daniels said, forcing people to work overtime in many places.
“It is incredibly unfair to expect hard-working, patriotic American air traffic controllers and their families to bear the full burden of policy disagreements in Congress,” he said in a written statement. “We have consistently said that NATCA supports any measure that would end this shutdown and pay our members. It is time for Congress to take action to end this shutdown.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM.
