FAA Investigates Flight Cut Violations, Warns Airlines of Heavy Penalties

The FAA said it may seek civil penalties of up to $75,000 for every flight operated above the mandated limits.

A plane passes an air traffic control tower during takeoff at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minn., on Nov. 7, 2025. Tim Evans/Reuters

Federal regulators have warned airlines that they are under investigation for possible violations of an emergency order requiring them to reduce flights during the government shutdown.

In a Dec. 1 announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it has sent letters to airlines seeking information on the steps they took to comply with a Nov. 12 flight-cutting order, warning that air carriers could face significant financial penalties if found to be failing to comply.

“The FAA alerted certain airlines that it’s investigating whether they complied with an Emergency Order mandating flight reductions at 40 high-impact airports to maintain safety during the government shutdown,” the agency said in a statement, referring to 40 of the nation’s busiest air hubs.

The FAA ordered the airlines to trim their schedules on Nov. 7, roughly a month into the federal government shutdown, as thousands of air traffic controllers continued working without pay.

The agency initially planned a gradual ramp-up in required cuts, beginning with a 4 percent reduction on Nov. 7 and rising to 10 percent of the flights within a week. But on Nov. 12, with operational disruptions eased and the shutdown coming to an end, the regulators froze the requirement at 6 percent.

The mandated cut was later halved to 3 percent before the FAA lifted all restrictions on Nov. 16, four days after the shutdown concluded.

In its Dec. 1 letter to carriers, the FAA requested statements and evidence demonstrating each company’s compliance with the emergency order. Airlines are given 30 days to respond.

The FAA said it may seek civil penalties of up to $75,000 for every flight operated above the mandated limits.

Airlines for America, a trade association representing major U.S. carriers including American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines, has declined to comment.

The FAA imposed the flight cuts in response to safety concerns prompted by severe staffing shortages among air traffic controllers, some of whom had stopped reporting for duty after weeks of working without pay.

The agency is already about 3,500 controllers short of its staffing targets, with many employees working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown began.

On Nov. 14, two days after the record-setting 43-day shutdown ended, controllers and other FAA employees began receiving back pay amounting to roughly 70 percent of what they were owed, excluding overtime.

The reductions were removed just as airlines were preparing for the Thanksgiving travel period, one of the industry’s busiest times of the year. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it screened a record-breaking 3.13 million passengers on Nov. 30, the peak day of the Thanksgiving travel season.