Did U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy say in a Fox News interview in November 2025 that "Pilots need to stop depending on air traffic controllers. They need to suck it up and go with their gut feelings"?

Flight delays and cancellations are piling up Saturday across the U.S. after the Federal Aviation Administration cut flights at 40 U.S. airports on Friday.

Here are five things alarming travelers amid the FAA flight cuts, and what you can do to ease some of the worries.

Duffy said the FAA will reduce flight capacity across the nation's airspace starting on Friday if air traffic controllers continue to be unpaid.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Tuesday that he may be forced to close parts of the nation’s airspace if the federal government shutdown continues for much longer.

U.S. airlines are bracing for chaos and scrambling to rejig their schedules after Donald Trump’s administration ordered flight reductions at major airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers caused by the ongoing government shutdown.

A document released on Nov. 6 outlines restrictions to the FAA, and this includes a curfew on commercial space launches.

FAA cuts due to the government shutdown are likely to exacerbate an already significant decline in air travel for the rest of the year.