In response to the ongoing U.S. federal government shutdown that has affected thousands of flights across the United States, United Airlines has announced that it will cancel approximately four percent of its flight schedule across select domestic markets in coming days, reported a piece published in ABC News. The move comes after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directed carriers to reduce operations at 40 major airports, citing fatigue and staffing shortages among air-traffic controllers.
What United Airlines is doing to adjust its schedule
All the mjaor airlines across the United States have been hit by the FAA directive to reduce operations at the forty major airports in the US. United’s two biggest rivals, American Airlines and Delta Airlines, have come up with their own announcement of changes made to their schedule.
United is gearing up for what it calls “select cancellations through select markets” over the coming days:
“The good news here for customers is we’re getting those cancellations in today for tomorrow through Sunday. That will help customers who might be traveling over the weekend to be able to look for alternatives during that course. And keep in mind, it’s select cancellations through select markets. United’s a large airline, so we are confident that we’ll be able to reaccommodate customers and still meet their travel needs,”
United operates a fleet of 1056 aircraft and employs over 17,000 pilots. United has stated that its international long-haul flights will not be affected, and neither will flights that connects its hub airports that are the following
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Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
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Denver International Airport (DEN)
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George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston (IAH)
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Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
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Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
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San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
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Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
United has also published cancellation and schedule-change information about the flights on the three days. Data suggests that Chicago O’hare sees the highest number of cancellations from November 7-9. Let’s break down the cancellation by airports:
Of all the cancellations of United Airlines, morning cancellations are consistently the heaviest, tapering off by evening. Total cancellations hover around 190–200 per day. The following chart gives us some cues:
Reasons behind the reductions and impact on air travel operations
The U.S. government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, has left many air-traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents working without pay, prompting mounting fatigue and absences. The FAA says the reduction in capacity is necessary to maintain safe airspace operations in the face of an unprecedented staffing crisis.
Earlier this week, Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, had warned that the airspace of US might need to be closed if the government shutdown is not cancelled. A report published in The Guardian highlighted the scope of the disruptions we are going to face:
Reuters reported that the cuts would begin at 4% on Friday, escalate to 5% on Saturday and 6% at Sunday, before reaching 10% next week, and that international flights were to be exempted from the initial cuts. Aviaion analytics firm Cirium estimated that the cuts would reduce as many as 1,800 flights and over 268,000 airline seats.
United Airlines and two of its biggest rivals (that form the trio of The Big Three US Airlines) have stressed that its long-haul international and hub-to-hub routes will continue, but regional operations are the most at risk because they often use smaller aircraft on thinner routes. Despite these reductions, United is offering 4000 flights every day (taking into flights offered by United Express partners).
United’s CEO Scott Kirby had told employees that the customers with flights booked to travel during the shutdown will be eligible for a refund, whilst also iterating that its “hub-to-hub flying will not be impacted by this schedule reduction direction from the FAA“. He was quoted in Fox Business as having expressed:
“Any customer traveling during this period is eligible for a refund if they do not wish to fly – even if their flight isn’t impacted. That includes non-refundable tickets and those customers with basic economy tickets….we will focus our schedule reductions on regional flying and domestic mainline flights that do not travel between our hubs”
What must you do if you are travelling on United Airlines during this period?
The first thing to do is to check United’s mobile app or website frequently for “rolling updates” to schedule changes. If rebooking is imperative, please note that priority may be given to hub-to-hub or long-haul flights, with regional services more vulnerable to cuts.
ABC News also quoted Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle’s LinkedIn post where he “advised travelers to book a backup ticket on another carrier to avoid being stranded at an airport“.
“Don’t book a basic ticket. For example, book Economy on Frontier so you can reuse the ticket value as changes are free or you can get a credit. If your flight is cancelled your chances of being stranded are high so I would simply have a backup ticket on another airline,”
Please note that this post has since been deleted.
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