Over 2,500 flights cancelled as transportation secretary says flight reductions could reach 20% if shutdown persists

Flight cancellations and delays are set to grow as airline passengers across the United States spent the weekend grappling with those issues at major airports nationwide after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandated a 4% reduction in air traffic in response to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

If the shutdown continues, the FAA has instructed airlines to cut 6% of flights on Tuesday – and to do the same to 10% by 14 November. The transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, has warned that flight reductions could reach 20% if the shutdown persists, and on Sunday he predicted a “substantial” number of people in the US would be unable to celebrate the upcoming holidays with their families if the shutdown wasn’t resolved.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting

US government shutdown blamed for cuts from Friday, two weeks before busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period

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• List of US airports cutting flights on Friday due to federal government shutdown

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago airports are among 40 that will see reductions in flights from Friday as a result of the government shutdown, according to a list distributed to the airlines.

The Associated Press published the list after airline regulators identified “high-volume markets” where the Federal Administration Agency says air traffic must be reduced by 4% by 6am ET on Friday, a move that would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create a cascade of scheduling issues and delays at some of the nation’s largest airports.