(MENAFN- Live Mint) The US is set to see a 10% cut in flights across 40 major airports, with the government shutdown crossing the 35-day mark and becoming the longest in US history.

The move was announced by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on November 5, with as many as 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transport Security Administration (TSA) officials working without pay as per Reuters.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also 3,500 air traffic controllers short of the targeted staffing levels, and with many working overtime, there are concerns about performance and by extension, safety.

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"We had a gut check of what is our job. Our job to make sure we make the hard decisions to continue to keep the airspace safe," said Duffy, who cited a confidential safety assessment highlighting potential dips in performance of air traffic controllers.

Following up, Bryan Bedford, the FAA Administrator, said, "When we see pressures building in these 40 markets, we just can't ignore it. We can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating so the system is extremely safe today, will be extremely safe tomorrow."

Which airports are affected?

Although the FAA has said that 40 aviation markets across the US will be affected by the flight service cuts, it has not specified airports by name.

That said, Reuters reported that the cuts were expected to hit the 30 busiest airports in the US, including those serving New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, and the capital, Washington DC.

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The cuts are expected to reduce as many as 1,800 flights and 268,000 flight seats, as per aviation analytics firm Cirium.

List of airports likely to be affected

The FAA categorizes the 'busiest' airports in the US based on the number of annual enplanements.

With the cuts expected to hit some of the busiest airports, here is the full list of air transport hubs that are likely to be affected.

• Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (52,511,402)
• Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (42,351,316)
• Denver, CO: Denver International Airport (40,012,895)
• Chicago, IL: Chicago O'Hare International Airport (38,575,693)
• Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles International Airport (37,760,834)
• New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International Airport (31,466,102)
• Charlotte, NC: Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (28,523,822)
• Las Vegas, NV: Harry Reid International Airport (28,244,966)
• Orlando, FL: Orlando International Airport (27,859,783)
• Miami, FL: Miami International Airport (26,588,002)
• Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (25,595,723)
• Seattle, WA: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (25,414,592)
• San Francisco, CA: San Francisco International Airport (25,078,968)
• Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International Airport (24,544,320)
• Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental Airport (23,349,157)
• Boston, MA: Logan International Airport (21,090,721)
• Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport (18,054,481)
• Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (17,096,131)
• New York, NY: LaGuardia Airport (16,715,567)
• Detroit, MI: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (16,110,696)
• Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International Airport (15,102,261)
• Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City International Airport (13,543,570)
• Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (12,686,220)
• San Diego, CA: San Diego International Airport (12,657,751)
• Tampa, FL: Tampa International Airport (12,506,000)
• Washington, D.C.: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (12,473,080)
• Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International Airport (11,850,713)
• Portland, OR: Portland International Airport (11,791,250)
• Austin, TX: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (11,040,111)
• Dallas, TX: Dallas Love Field (8,932,185)
• Nashville, TN: Nashville International Airport (8,879,036)
• Honolulu, HI: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (8,455,274)
• St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Lambert International Airport (7,804,260)
• Kansas City, MO: Kansas City International Airport (7,705,389)
• Raleigh, NC: Raleigh-Durham International Airport (7,605,941)
• San Jose, CA: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (7,092,752)
• Oakland, CA: Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (6,839,400)
• Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis International Airport (6,569,723)
• New Orleans, LA: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (6,478,574)
• Sacramento, CA: Sacramento International Airport (6,467,610)

(NOTE: List based on FAA data from 2024)

What have airlines said?

Although most airlines are yet to comment, American Airlines has said that the vast majority of their customers at least are unlikely to be affected.

Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, has said that it is evaluating the impact of the cuts to its flight schedule.

While the Associated Press has reached out to other major carriers such as Delta and United Airlines, they have not commented yet.

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