Airline disruptions continued throughout the U.S. on Thursday morning, with over 1,000 flights canceled, in accordance with tracker FlightAware, as officers warned it might take days for airports to get again up to the mark regardless of President Donald Trump signing a invoice to finish the federal government shutdown on Wednesday.
Along with 1,017 cancellations, some 2,478 flights had been delayed on Thursday as of 4:30 p.m. ET, with 415 flights scheduled for Friday additionally already canceled, in accordance with FightAware.
It may take as much as every week for air journey to return to regular operations after the federal government shutdown ends, Airways for America President and CEO Chris Sununu stated at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.
The solar units over an air visitors management tower at O’Hare Worldwide Airport in Illinois, Chicago, U.S., Nov. 12, 2025.
Daniel Cole/Reuters
The airports seeing essentially the most cancellations on Thursday embrace Chicago O’Hare Worldwide Airport with 52, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport with 43 and Denver Worldwide Airport with 37, in accordance with FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration froze flight reductions on Wednesday that had been initially set to extend on Thursday, because the variety of canceled flights in the US has steadily decreased this week.
The FAA issued an emergency order on Wednesday night freezing the flight reductions at their present degree of 6%.
Beneath a previous order, airways had been required to scale back operations at 40 “high-impact airports” by 8% by Thursday and by 10% by Friday. The brand new order means these reductions will not enhance.
With Thanksgiving simply two weeks away, Sununu stated he doesn’t see any impacts lasting into the vacation season.
“I do not assume any flights over the Thanksgiving week have truly been canceled but. I believe the airways have been fairly tight working with the FAA wanting just a few days out to make sure,” Sununu stated. “We’re nonetheless a great week-plus away from that Thanksgiving week. There’s nonetheless loads of time to guarantee that the whole lot over the Thanksgiving week goes off as initially deliberate.”

Pilots and passengers crowd a gate space as flight delays persist amid FAA measures greater than a month into the continuing U.S. authorities shutdown, at O’Hare Worldwide Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 10, 2025.
Chris Helgren/Reuters
The 6% flight reductions will stay in place “because the FAA continues to evaluate the state of affairs and determines when airways and programs can safely and regularly return to regular operations,” the Division of Transportation stated.
The order comes after greater than 900 flights had been canceled Wednesday within the U.S. as of roughly 8 p.m. ET, with departures from the busy hubs of Chicago, Denver and Atlanta main the record of essentially the most cancellations, in accordance with FlightAware.
The cancellations and delays have slowly crept down all through the week, nevertheless, as soon as Congress appeared prepared to finish the shutdown.
ABC Information’ Kevin Shalvey, Meredith Deliso and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
