FAA Eases Flight Cuts to Three Percent Saturday

The Federal Aviation Administration announced on Friday, November 13, 2026, that its emergency flight cuts at 40 major airports ease to 3 percent starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday, November 14. That's down from the 6 percent reduction that's been in force since Monday, November 10.

The cuts began at 4 percent on November 7, during the federal government shutdown, and rose to 6 percent on November 10. A planned climb to 10 percent was cancelled when the shutdown ended on November 11. The easing is the first step back, not the last one: the FAA hasn't announced a date for a full return to normal schedules.

The agency says it'll keep monitoring the system before it decides on the next step. Staffing has largely recovered since controllers worked through the shutdown, and the FAA's language stays careful. The 3 percent cut stays in place until the agency says otherwise.

The timing is the story for travelers. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, twelve days after the cut eases. Airlines for America projects carriers will move nearly 29 million passengers over the Thanksgiving period from November 20 to November 30, and the 40 airports on the FAA's list are the hubs most of them pass through.

For anyone flying this weekend, the practical read is narrow. Saturday's schedules should hold more flights than Friday's did, and a 3 percent cut still cancels real departures at the biggest airports. Checking a flight before leaving for the airport isn't caution theater this weekend. It's the trip.

The scale of the original order explains why the easing is gradual. More than 1,000 flights were cancelled on the first day of the cuts alone, on November 7, because the 40 airports on the list handle a large share of the country's domestic flying. Restoring 3 points of that capacity returns real flights, and it still leaves a cut in place at every one of those hubs.