reduce

Nov. 6 (UPI) — A reduction in flights will affect 40 airports amid the federal government shutdown, which has put a strain on air traffic control staffing, unnamed sources said Thursday.

The Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t listed the airports, but sources released the tentative list to ABC News, CBS News and The Washington Post.

Most of the airports affected are in major cities, such as New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. But other, less-busy airports are also on the list, such as Tampa Bay, Fla.; Anchorage, Alaska; and San Diego.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the 10% flight reduction on Wednesday, and said the cuts will begin on Friday.

“Our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible. Reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations. This is not based on light airline travel locations. This is about where the pressure is and how to really deviate the pressure,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford Bedford said Wednesday.

​​”If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos,” Duffy said on Tuesday.

A source told ABC News that the flight reductions will start at 4% Friday and work up to 10%. The flight reductions will be from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and tentatively affect the following airports:

1. Anchorage International (Alaska)
2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Georgia)
3. Boston Logan International (Massachusetts)
4. Baltimore-Washington International Marshall (Maryland)
5. Charlotte Douglas International (North Carolina)
6. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (Ohio/Kentucky)
7. Dallas Love Field (Texas)
8. Reagan National (District of Columbia/Virginia)
9. Denver International (Colorado)
10. Dallas-Fort Worth International (Texas)
11. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (Michigan)
12. Newark Liberty International (New Jersey)
13. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Florida)
14. Honolulu International (Hawaii)
15. Houston Hobby (Texas)
16. Washington Dulles International (District of Columbia/Virginia)
17. George Bush Houston Intercontinental (Texas)
18. Indianapolis International (Indiana)
19. John F. Kennedy International (New York)
20. Las Vegas Reid International (Nevada)
21. Los Angeles International (California)
22. LaGuardia Airport (New York)
23. Orlando International (Florida)
24. Chicago Midway (Illinois)
25. Memphis International (Tennessee)
26. Miami International (Florida)
27. Minneapolis/St. Paul International (Minnesota)
28. Oakland International (California)
29. Ontario International (Canada)
30. Chicago O’Hare International (Illinois)
31. Portland International (Oregon)
32. Philadelphia International (Pennsylvania)
33. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Arizona)
34. San Diego International (California)
35. Louisville International (Kentucky)
36. Seattle-Tacoma International (Washington)
37. San Francisco International (California)
38. Salt Lake City International (Utah)
39. Teterboro (New Jersey)
40. Tampa International (Florida)

The reduction could affect cargo and commercial travelers. It could also cause issues as people prepare to travel for Thanksgiving.

The agency made the announcement as it confronts staffing shortages caused by air traffic controllers who are working unpaid.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will reduce air traffic by 10 percent across 40 “high-volume” markets beginning Friday morning to maintain safety during the ongoing government shutdown, it has said.

The agency made the announcement on Wednesday as it confronts staffing shortages caused by air traffic controllers, who are working unpaid, with some calling out of work during the shutdown, resulting in delays across the country.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency is not going to wait for a problem to act, saying the shutdown is causing staffing pressures and “we can’t ignore it”.

Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said they will meet later Wednesday with airline leaders to figure out how to safely implement the reduction.

Widespread delays

The shutdown, now in its 36th day, has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers to work without pay. This has worsened staff shortages, caused widespread flight delays and extended lines at airport security screening.

The move is aimed at taking pressure off air traffic controllers. The FAA also warned that it could add more flight restrictions after Friday if further air traffic issues emerge.

Duffy had warned on Tuesday that if the federal government shutdown continued another week, it could lead to “mass chaos” and force him to close some of the national airspace to air traffic, a drastic move that could upend American aviation.

Airlines have repeatedly urged an end to the shutdown, citing aviation safety risks.

Shares of major airlines, including United Airlines and American Airlines, were down about 1 percent in extended trading.

An airline industry group estimated that more than 3.2 million passengers have been affected by flight delays or cancellations due to rising air traffic controller absences since the shutdown began on October 1. Airlines have been raising concerns with lawmakers about the impact on operations.

Airlines said the shutdown has not significantly affected their business, but have warned bookings could drop if it drags on. More than 2,100 flights were delayed on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, FAA’s Bedford said that 20 percent to 40 percent of controllers at the agency’s 30 largest airports were failing to show up for work.

The federal government has mostly closed as Republicans and Democrats are locked in a standoff in Congress over a funding bill. Democrats have insisted they would not approve a plan that does not extend health insurance subsidies, while Republicans have rejected that.

Shipping containers are stacked on a cargo ship in Bayonne, N.J., in 2020. Now the United States, with the help of Russia and Saudi Arabia, has halted a global agreement to reduce cargo ship greenhouse gases because of the Trump administration’s view that climate change is a “scam.” File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 17 (UPI) — The United States delayed the adoption of an international requirement for commercial cargo ships to reduce their greenhouse emissions or be subject to fines that is widely supported globally.

Using threats of sanctions and tariffs, and backed by Saudi Arabia and Russia, the Trump administration forced representatives of more than 100 countries to table the International Maritime Organization’s Net-zero Framework, which would have set a mandatory marine fuel standard.

The draft framework, agreed to in April and aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cargo ships to net-zero by 2050, would have gone into effect in 2027 for all ocean going ships weighing more than 5,000 tons, according to the IMO.

President Donald Trump has referred to nearly all efforts to reduce human impacts on the environment as a “green scam.”

In an Oct. 10 statement meant to put “IMO members on notice,” Trump’s secretaries of state, energy and transportation said that the United States would employ a series of penalties “against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations.”

“President Trump has made it clear that the United States will not accept any international environmental agreement that unduly or unfairly burdens the United States or harms the interests of the American people,” Secs. Marco Rubio, Chris Wright and Sean Duffy said in the statement.

The new regulation would have gone into effect in 2027 after a standard for ships to reduce their annual gas fuel intensity — the amount of greenhouse gases released for each unit of energy a ship uses — and economic measures and penalties were established at meetings planned for 2026.

The IMO plan was widely supported — Britain, Canada, the European Union, Japan and China were all in favor — and was expected to pass by most of the roughly 100 countries represented at Friday’s meeting.

Although a handful of countries were not in favor of delaying talks about the regulation for a year, the United States persuaded several countries, including China, to join it, Russia and Saudi Arabia to push off negotiations on the deal.

“We are disappointed that member states have not been able to agree [on] a way forward at this meeting,” International Chamber of Shipping secretary-general Thomas Kazakos told reporters.

“Industry needs clarity to be able to make investments,” he said, reiterating the already known overall support the shipping industry reportedly has for the global standard.

Members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have voted to postpone approving a plan to curb shipping emissions, after United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on countries that supported the measure.

The vote on Friday set back plans to regulate the shipping industry’s contributions to climate change by at least 12 months, even though the Net Zero Framework (NZF) had already been approved by members of the London-based IMO, a United Nations body, in April.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The decision to formally delay adopting the framework until late next year came a day after President Trump took to his Truth Social platform, saying: “I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global Carbon Tax.”

“The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping,” he said, telling countries to vote against the plan.

Washington also threatened to impose sanctions, visa restrictions and port levies on countries that supported the deal.

In advance of this week’s meeting in London, about 63 IMO members who had voted for the plan in April were expected to maintain their support for curbs on emissions, and others were expected to join the initiative to formally approve the framework.

Following Trump’s social media threat, delegates in London instead voted on a hastily arranged resolution to push back proceedings on the matter, which passed by 57 votes to 49.

The IMO, which comprises 176 member countries, is responsible for regulating the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution on the high seas.

Since returning to power in January, Trump has focused on reversing Washington’s course on climate change, encouraging fossil fuel use by deregulation, cutting funding for clean energy projects and promising businesses to “drill, baby drill”.

‘A missed opportunity’

A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres called Friday’s decisions “a missed opportunity for member states to place the shipping sector on a clear, credible path towards net zero emissions”.

The International Chamber of Shipping, representing more than 80 percent of the world’s fleet, also expressed disappointment.

“Industry needs clarity to be able to make the investments needed to decarbonise the maritime sector,” the chamber’s Secretary-General Thomas Kazakos said in a statement.

Disappointed, but still very much Committed! https://t.co/7P192kAvCx

— Thomas A. Kazakos (@ThomasKazakos) October 17, 2025

Ralph Regenvanu, the minister for climate change for Vanuatu, said the decision to delay the vote by 12 months was “unacceptable given the urgency we face in light of accelerating climate change”.

“But we know that we have international law on our side and will continue to fight for our people and the planet,” Regenvanu added.

Leading up to Friday’s decision, China, the European Union, Brazil, Britain and several other members of the IMO had reaffirmed their support.

Countries that opposed the measures included Russia and Saudi Arabia.

A Russian delegate described the proceedings as “chaos” as he addressed the plenary on Friday after talks had lasted into the early hours.

Argentina and Singapore, two countries that had previously voted in support of the framework in April, were among those that voted to postpone introducing it this week.

If it had been formally adopted this week, the Net Zero Framework (NZF) would have been the first global carbon-pricing system, charging ships a penalty of $380 per metric tonne on every extra tonne of CO2-equivalent they emit while rewarding vessels that reduce their emissions by using alternatives.

The framework plan is intended to help the IMO reach its target of cutting net emissions from international shipping by 20 percent by 2030 and eliminating them by 2050.

Climate change is already beginning to affect shipping and the safety of seafarers, including by changing ocean currents and causing more frequent and severe storms.

Proposals to reduce reliance on dirtier bunker fuel in the shipping industry include using ammonia and methanol, as well as fitting cargo ships with special sails.

Budget airline Ryanair has announced it is reducing capacity in another European hotspot this winter over a tax row with the German government – it comes after cuts to routes in Belgium and Spain

Ryanair has revealed plans to reduce its capacity in Germany this winter, following earlier route cuts in Spain and Belgium. The move will affect 24 routes across nine German airports, reducing the airline’s carrying capacity by 800,000 for the season.

The decision comes amid a tax dispute with the German Government. Ryanair is urging Germany’s transport minister to lower the costs of air travel in the country, claiming that current charges are reinforcing Lufthansa’s alleged “monopoly” in the region.

The Irish airline has warned the German government that it will relocate this cut capacity to other EU countries unless the 24% aviation tax increase introduced in May 2024 is reversed and air traffic control charges are reduced.

Speaking from Berlin, Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady, said: “It is very disappointing that the newly elected German Government has already failed to deliver on their commitment to reduce the regressive aviation tax and sky-high access costs which are crippling Germany’s aviation sector.

“As a result, Ryanair has been left with no choice but to reduce our Winter ’25 capacity by over 800,000 seats and cancel 24 routes across 9 high-cost German airports. This completely avoidable loss of connectivity will bring our capacity below Winter ’24 levels and will have a devastating impact on German connectivity, jobs, and tourism.”

The carrier told ministers that German air traffic will keep falling unless the nation becomes more competitive alongside other European destinations. But it also highlighted that if officials choose to slash costs, Ryanair could potentially double passenger numbers and generate more than 1,000 extra jobs across the country.

Ryanair’s reductions will affect the following airports, among others:

• Berlin
• Hamburg
• Memmingen
• Dortmund
• Dresden
• Leipzig

Germany transforms into a tourism magnet during winter months thanks to its famous Christmas markets. Plus the snow-covered landscapes of the Black Forest is an idyllic backdrop couples flock to for a cozy winter break.

Ryanair’s declaration follows shortly after it announced a 16% cut in its carrying capacity across Spain. Last month, the budget airline disclosed this was also down to a row over airport charges.

At the end of August, Ryanair slashed its operations to Brussels Airport by 6% citing “high” airport fees. CEO Michael O’Leary also confirmed the carrier wouldn’t be rolling out any expansion schemes in Belgium this winter because of the extra levies.