More than a dozen flights were canceled at CVG Airport Friday morning, one day after the FAA announced it would decrease flight capacity by 10% at over 40 major airports across the country.
The FAA announced Thursday it would start with a roughly 4% reduction at airports on Friday, before ramping up to 6% by Nov. 11, 8% by November 13, and meeting the full 10% reduction by Nov. 14.
It’s unclear how many flights will be cut daily at CVG, or how many of Friday’s cancellations were tied to the FAA’s decision; we have reached out to airport officials to learn more, but have not yet heard back.
Friday morning, WCPO reporter Ally Kraemer was at CVG and saw 14 flights canceled on the airport’s departure boards — seven of those were arrivals, and seven were departures.
More than 800 flights have been canceled nationwide.
After ABC News first reported the planned cuts on Wednesday evening, travelers flying out of CVG on Thursday morning told us they’re concerned about what the cuts could mean for their trip back home.
“Unfortunately, we bought the tickets a long time ago, not knowing this was happening, so we can only do what they’re gonna let us,” Matthew Bennett said.
In a press release issued by the FAA on Thursday, officials said the decision came down to safety.
“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” said U.S.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy in the release. “The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.”
International flights are exempt from the cuts, the FAA said.
In addition to the capacity cuts, the FAA’s press release says the agency will also:
- Prohibit some visual flight rule approaches at facilities with staffing triggers.
- Restrict commercial space launches and re-entries to only be allowed between certain hours.
- Parachute operations and photo missions near facilities with a staffing trigger will be prohibited.
The FAA also said airlines will be required to issue full refunds for flights impacted, but the airlines won’t have to pay for secondary costs.
Chris Hayth, a former air traffic controller for 24 years who worked at several airports — including CVG — told us the 10% reduction would likely cause flight delays.
“There’ll be a lot of delays, and of course there’s less people working,” Hayth said. “There’s less controllers working for less pay than they’ve got we’ve gotten in a very long time. The bottom line is that the pay increases that controllers got is not and has not been enough to deal with inflation for almost a decade.”
He said that now, as air traffic controllers are not being paid at all during the federal government shutdown, stress is higher for people in that role. He also said retirements and people leaving the job because of low pay have left many teams short-staffed for awhile.
“When I started in 2000, I believe the goal was 15,000 air traffic controllers,” Hayth said. “And when I retired (in 2024) I believe there were around 10,500 or 10,600. It’s been like that ever since.”
Here’s the full list of airports the FAA said would see reductions in flights:
ANC – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
ATL – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
BOS – Boston Logan International Airport
BWI – Baltimore/Washington International Airport
CLT – Charlotte Douglas International Airport
CVG – Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
DAL – Dallas Love Field
DCA – Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
DEN – Denver International Airport
DFW – Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
DTW – Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
EWR – Newark Liberty International Airport
FLL – Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport
HNL – Honolulu International Airport
HOU – William P. Hobby Airport
IAD – Washington Dulles International Airport
IAH – George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport
IND – Indianapolis International Airport
JFK – New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
LAS – Las Vegas McCarran International Airport
LAX – Los Angeles International Airport
LGA – New York LaGuardia Airport
MCO – Orlando International Airport
MDW – Chicago Midway International Airport
MEM – Memphis International Airport
MIA – Miami International Airport
MSP – Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport
OAK – Oakland International Airport
ONT – Ontario International Airport
ORD – Chicago O’Hare International Airport
PDX – Portland International Airport
PHL – Philadelphia International Airport
PHX – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
SAN – San Diego International Airport
SDF – Louisville International Airport
SEA – Seattle–Tacoma International Airport
SFO – San Francisco International Airport
SLC – Salt Lake City International Airport
TEB – Teterboro Airport
TPA – Tampa International Airport
