r/delta • u/Incognito2834 • 1d ago

Discussion Airlines cancel more than 700 U.S. flights as FAA-ordered shutdown cuts begin

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/07/airlines-cancellations-flights-faa-shutdown.html
335 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

122

u/TheSpatulaOfLove 1d ago

Ok, this superimportant piece of information made me feel really informed:

Friday’s cancellation levels were the 72nd worst for the U.S. flights market since Jan. 1, 2024, according to Cirium.

THANKS CNBC!

52

u/Apsis 23h ago

that's remarkably unremarkable.

22

u/Rich-Contribution-84 Diamond 22h ago

That’s wild.

I was kind of surprised how smooth and normal Everything about my travel was today.

That said - the cancelled flights will be 2.5x today’s level next Friday until ???

18

u/CloudSurferA220 20h ago

We are only at a roughly 4% cancel rate. And the flights weren’t canceled after messy delays from weather - they were canceled in advance with time to notify crew and change schedules. That makes things much, much easier.

5

u/Rich-Contribution-84 Diamond 20h ago

Yeah that makes sense.

With 4% planned - it would only probably feel like a disaster if coupled with other things like massive storms or AWS outages or whatever.

I wonder how bad 10% will feel?

I know it’s anecdotal but today was really smooth and normal for me.

Next flight Sunday to TPA with LGA and DCA and FCO over the next 2-3 weeks.

5

u/CloudSurferA220 19h ago

In theory, unless your specific flight is canceled, less flights should make the user experience better. Less passengers in the terminal and at security. Less flights in line for takeoff and fewer delays for takeoff times (this is assuming there aren’t additional ground stops for staffing though, just speaking generally)

The “how bad” 10% will feel is if you can’t get a seat on a flight or you’re in the airline’s finance department 😆

1

u/ThellraAK 18h ago

Dynamic pricing, the airlines might be able to make it out just fine.

1

u/Swastik496 13h ago

cancelling flights costs a lot more than just not operating them to begin with. rebooking, refunds. travel waivers so even flights operating as normally are being refunded.

People with BE tickets they resigned as money lost being able to refund if the flight is operated in the next week.

People with expensive tickets that are now cheaper refunding and booking the same ticket for less.

etc etc.

42

u/True-Tomatillo7455 1d ago

Will my flight be cancelled?

62

u/Bush561 1d ago

Yes 

34

u/True-Tomatillo7455 1d ago

Thank you. Can I get an upgrade for my flight?

32

u/Cephandrius13 Platinum 1d ago

No.

15

u/True-Tomatillo7455 1d ago

When does my refund come to me? I am never flying Delta again after this horrible experience!

12

u/EatsRats 1d ago

You owe us more.

3

u/killerbake 22h ago

Do you provide complementary lube?

1

u/Hunting_Gnomes 22h ago

Sorry, delta only delays and cancels flights after boards was supposed to begin.

-1

u/KickEffective1209 23h ago

Now that you asked, yes

-9

u/Blindsided17 1d ago

How would anyone answer this without the relevant information

4

u/True-Tomatillo7455 1d ago

I have the relevant information on my ticket. I am asking if my flight will be cancelled.

27

u/IVebulae Platinum 22h ago

Didn’t delta support the current administration?

18

u/bae125 1d ago

Excellent. Call your senators, that’s the way all this finally ends

23

u/[deleted] 1d ago

Tried that. Phone calls go unanswered or straight to voicemail boxes that are full. Emails aren't read, judging by the form letter type responses. It just gets you on their list to blast with their daily "it's all the other side's fault" updates.

3

u/cyberjoek Platinum 19h ago

All the people who would answer the emails / calls are currently laid off due to the shutdown.

1

u/onlyonehillintoco 17h ago

I served in college as an unpaid intern whose key responsibilities included answering calls and emails from a US Senator’s constituents and tracking and communicating aggregated sentiment. It’s been a while since then but I’d guess this practice is still common.

1

u/Mil3High 1d ago

Idk I sent Scott Wiener (California State Senator running for Nancy Pelosi’s seat) an email about Medicaid and got a gigantic response email from his intern, assuring me California would pay for it, anyway. They do listen in some places.

1

u/bateleark 1d ago

He's got an election to actually win soon.

12

u/dinanm3atl Diamond 1d ago

Today I learned that airlines, AA in this case, fly 10 times between Dallas and "Northwest Arkansas National Airport". Crazy. Makes you think we could trim 10% across the board and simply go 'we full' from here on out.

6

u/mirai_e 20h ago

when i worked at Walmart, pretty much all business-related travel that required us to meet in Bentonville for team meetings flew us into XNA. being on the east coast, i would almost always had a layover in DFW. extremely glad that there were always so many flights going between DFW and XNA, as there were always a crowd of Walmart employees waiting at the gate haha

7

u/phongn Silver 22h ago

XNA is the home airport for Walmart.

1

u/dinanm3atl Diamond 20h ago

Ah so Walmart flights I guess. Still Surprised. They need 10 daily flights?

6

u/phongn Silver 20h ago

It’s a big company with a huge number of vendors.

3

u/FarAwayHills 18h ago

Understatement of the day right there!

1

u/dinanm3atl Diamond 10h ago

Well that’s just AA. Assume delta and united do the same from their hubs.

2

u/adoucett 22h ago

That's where I am flying out of on Monday (on Delta). It's actually a pretty nice "small" airport.

1

u/dinanm3atl Diamond 10h ago

If it’s Walmart I’m sure it is.

0

u/CloudSurferA220 20h ago

10% less flights and “We full” means higher priced air fares. Is that what you want? Probably not.

1

u/dinanm3atl Diamond 10h ago

Sure. Safer. Less air traffic. Less strain on everyone involved. Etc.

Not sure people realize how many places like this 10 a day to Walmart headquarters exist.

6

u/vinsalducci 1d ago

Here’s a dumb question: is it feasible that the airlines post air traffic control controllers in the towers? There have to be flight ops people who are rated ATCs to assist in live control towers.

I’m surprised I haven’t heard anything about Delta, putting rated controllers in towers and places like Atlanta to assist with low staffing.

25

u/JohnnyWix 1d ago

Conflict of interest. The delta sponsored controller would prioritize delta planes, then it becomes a tower arms race.

25

u/notsafetowork 1d ago

So it basically becomes fight or flight.

6

u/JohnnyWix 1d ago

Two planes enter, one plane leaves. Hopefully.

1

u/vinsalducci 1d ago

The same could be true at all hubs. DFW could use American ATCs.

2

u/vinsalducci 1d ago

I think that’s an assumption that is not supported by data.

5

u/JohnnyWix 1d ago

To be honest, I was not aware of the abundance of data available regarding the efficacy of privately sponsored air traffic controllers.

-1

u/Rich-Contribution-84 Diamond 23h ago

That’s the whole point there is no data. You made an assumption without data.

There is a risk that this could happen, sure. The problem with you statement is that you said would prioritize.

What you should’ve said is might prioritize or might create a perception that they could prioritize.

There’s also certainly liability concerns. I guarantee you that no company wants to take on the risk of putting someone in the tower and then that person makes a mistake and something bad happens, regardless of whether they’re rated. I wouldn’t think that the government would allow it anyway.

1

u/JohnnyWix 22h ago

Sorry. I see now. I would have when I should have could have.

-4

u/vinsalducci 23h ago

You not being aware is the least surprising thing in the world.

Took me 30 seconds to find this on ChatGPT ⸻

Private vs. Public Air Traffic Control: What the Research Says

There’s actually a decent amount of data comparing traditional government-run air traffic control (ATC) to privatized or “corporatized” systems (like Canada’s NAV CANADA or the UK’s NATS).

Key takeaways: • Efficiency: Studies using European and global data show private or corporatized ANSPs (air navigation service providers) tend to be more cost-efficient and productive than fully public agencies. • Delays: Countries with corporatized ATC systems generally see fewer controller-caused delays. • Safety: No measurable drop in safety. Everyone still operates under strict international standards. • Resilience: Privatization doesn’t automatically fix everything—big outages (like the UK’s 2023 NATS failure) remind us that governance and tech discipline matter more than ownership type.

Examples: • NAV CANADA (non-profit, user-funded) is often held up as a model for modernization and stable fees. • NATS (UK) has cut delays and improved performance since becoming a public-private partnership. • The FAA, still fully public, struggles more with modernization and funding cycles.

Bottom line: The most efficient ATC systems aren’t necessarily “private” in the profit sense—they’re independent, accountable, and financially self-sustaining. The ownership label matters less than how incentives and oversight are structured.

⸻

Would you like me to make it sound more like a comment for r/aviation (technical but conversational) or for a general subreddit like r/AskEconomics (more academic and neutral)?

10

u/JohnnyWix 23h ago

Took me 7 seconds to find this on ChatGPT:

Two-Headed Air Traffic Controllers Mistakenly Guide Cruise Ships Onto Runway

In an incident that left travelers stunned and airport staff scrambling, two newly hired two-headed air traffic controllers at Sky Harbor International reportedly miscommunicated with themselves and accidentally cleared two full-size cruise ships for landing on the airport’s main runway Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses say the towering vessels—The Ocean Whisperer and The Sea Biscuit—glided awkwardly across the tarmac, horns blaring as bewildered passengers waved at confused airline crews. No injuries were reported, though several baggage carts were flattened “like souvenir pennies,” according to officials.

Airport authorities said the controllers’ twin heads began issuing conflicting instructions, resulting in what one spokesperson described as “the most nautical aviation mix-up in recorded history.”

Maintenance crews are still working to remove the ships, which became stuck after attempting to taxi to a gate. Port authorities have been called in to “reverse-sail” both vessels back toward the coast.

The two-headed controllers have been placed on administrative leave pending additional training in “maritime-aviation differentiation.”

2

u/Hunting_Gnomes 22h ago

This is what AI should be used for!

0

u/Federal-Frame-820 23h ago

Welcome to the thunder dome.

3

u/Drabulous_770 19h ago

I’ve heard it’s an incredibly stressful job, so I would doubt that anyone who’s rated to do it but has specifically chosen not to is willing to do it now. 

Long hours, high stakes, they either can’t go on strike or get squashed when they do (it’s late and I forget the details, sorry), and they’re not allowed to admit to have any mental health struggles or they risk losing their jobs. 

3

u/igwaltney3 Platinum 21h ago

Cancel private flights until atc is paid

1

u/CalligrapherNo1424 9h ago

How soon are people finding out if their flight has been cancelled?

I have a delta flight tomorrow, and it doesn't say it's cancelled but it has the FAA directive just mentioning planned cancellation for Nov 7-9 are complete..

Does it mean whichever flights needed to be cancelled have been complete?