Travelers coming in and out of Michigan are in limbo as they await more information about federal restrictions on air traffic set to begin Friday.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among 40 airports across the country that will reduce their flight loads by 10% to reduce strain on the air traffic control system amid a record-long federal government shutdown. Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, along with hubs across the U.S., are also among those affected by the flight cuts.
While it had not been made aware directly by the federal government by Thursday afternoon, the Wayne County Airport Authority, which oversees Michigan’s largest and busiest airport, said it is “aware of unconfirmed reports” that DTW is on the FAA’s flight reduction list.
“At this time, we have not received official confirmation from the FAA about any specific airports impacted. We will continue to closely monitor the situation. We encourage all travelers to check with their airline for updated flight information before heading to DTW,” WCAA spokesperson Cortez Strickland said in an email.
Kelvin Shaw, 33, of Detroit, was disheartened to learn about the federal flight order. He was headed to Orlando, Florida, on Thursday afternoon for a music festival and expected to experience delays upon his return to Detroit next week. Shaw said he flies every six weeks or so for leisure.
“With fewer personnel,” he said, “it will only get more hectic, stressful and chaotic.”
Detroit Metro is a major hub for Delta Air Lines Inc., which has told customers via email that it is “complying with a federal directive at 40 major U.S. airports starting Friday, November 7th, due to air traffic control staffing shortages caused by the government shutdown.”
The Federal Aviation Administration, a part of the Department of Transportation, announced its intention to reduce flights by 10% during a Wednesday press conference. The agency has not publicly provided more details on the plan since then.
“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said at the press conference.
“The system is extremely safe today and will be extremely safe tomorrow,” he continued. “If the pressures continue to build even after we take these measures, we’ll come back and take additional measures.”
Air traffic controllers have gone unpaid during the shutdown (in its 37th day at the time of publication), resulting in an uptick in controller absences.
A Reuters report, citing airline officials who have been in communication with the federal government, indicated that FAA-directed flight reductions could begin at 4% Friday and rise to 10% next week. The report also said that international flights would be exempt, as would flights outside the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Delta tried to downplay the impact of the reductions in its email to customers, but it also offered free-of-charge options to alter flight plans.
The company said: “Most flights, including all long-haul international service, will operate as scheduled. Delta is prioritizing safety and minimizing customer impact, offering flexible options to change, cancel, or refund flights — including Main Basic tickets — without penalty during this travel period.”Customers will be notified of any changes as early as possible and are encouraged to check flight status on delta.com or the Fly Delta app. Delta apologizes for any inconvenience.”
DTW impacts
The airport handled 242,523 total flight operations in September 2025, DTW’s latest month with available data. That comes out to an average of 8,084 flights per day. A 10% reduction in that daily load would mean the cancellation of more than 800 trips into and out of the hub.
Interruptions to flights would have consequences not only for passengers unable to reach their destinations, but also for businesses unable to ship and receive cargo. “Globally, the rule of thumb is about half of air freight moves in the bellies of commercial passenger aircraft,” said Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University.
In other words, valuable goods travel on every major passenger flight.
Michigan exports about $7.5 billion worth of goods annually via air freight, Miller said, citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Commodity Flow Survey. The most recent data available — in part due to the shutdown — is from 2017, but the supply chain expert said those figures do not change significantly year to year.
The top exports shipped via air freight from Michigan tend to be “high-dollar-value per kilogram commodities” or “stuff that is very urgent and time-sensitive,” according to Miller. He said top products coming out of Michigan were items like precision instruments, electrical equipment, high-end pharmaceuticals and motor vehicle parts.
Patrick Anderson, CEO of the East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group, said that the automotive sector will be among the industries to feel pain from the reduction in flight volumes.
“Autos are going to be affected. Detroit is on our list, and so is Atlanta and Charlotte and Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. Those are the main air hubs that serve auto manufacturers and suppliers in the US,” he said in an email. “Even Tesla needs SFO and LAX, as well as Texas airports.”
Beyond autos, Anderson described the general impacts of the flight reductions: “Delays have what we call ‘network effects’ in business economics.
“Hold up a bunch of planes in one airport, and you get a cascading effect down the line. Delays also affect the behavior of people. Some people are going to just not travel. Others will arrive early, and anticipate waiting longer. Finally, this is affecting air traffic controllers that are working without pay.”
Politicians weigh in
Michigan’s federal lawmakers — as their national party leaders have throughout the shutdown — blamed their political opponents for the impending impact from flight reductions.
“For 37 days, Air Traffic Controller and TSA agents, have been working without pay under tremendous pressure to keep air travel safe,” U.S. Rep. Debbie, D-Ann Arbor, said in a statement.
She continued: “Many have been forced to take on additional jobs just to put food on the table or keep the lights on. The Administration’s decision to cut flights does not solve this problem — Republicans must prevent further, widespread chaos by reopening the government and making these critical federal employees whole.”
U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, chided Democrats for their unwillingness to vote with the GOP to end the shutdown.
“Passengers at (DTW) are going to have flights delayed and canceled because Michigan Democrats are refusing to fund the government,” McClain said in a social media post. “Let me repeat myself: because of Democrats, your holiday travel could be delayed and your holidays ruined.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar whose district includes DTW, shoveled blame back the other way.
“The FAA’s flight reductions at Detroit Metro Airport show how the Republican-led shutdown is hurting working families and disrupting our economy,” the Detroit lawmaker said in a statement.
Thanedar added: “Every canceled flight means missed paychecks and travel headaches for Detroiters. Republicans could end this chaos today by extending healthcare tax credits for Americans, but they choose not to. Democrats are ready to work and get this done.”
The office of Republican U.S. Rep. John James, asked to respond to potential disruptions at DTW, noted that the Shelby Township lawmaker recently introduced legislation to provide back pay and ongoing pay for essential FAA and Transportation Security Administration employees during the current shutdown.
“The best way forward for our federal workers and our country is for Democrats to pass the clean continuing resolution that House Republicans and I passed 40 days ago,” he said on Oct. 29. “Their refusal to do the right thing is forcing us to come up with alternative solutions to deliver for the American people.”
Passengers react
Travelers at McNamara Terminal were concerned about the implications the FAA move would have on their trips as they got ready to board flights Thursday.
Susan and Tom Mills of Port Huron had just finished checking and getting boarding passes at a kiosk when they learned their flight to Nashville, Tennessee, would be delayed 30 minutes.
“We just got notice that this flight right now is delayed a half hour … we just got notice,” Susan Mills said. They arrived early for their flight and wondered if it would be delayed any further.
The couple was headed to see their grandson in a hockey tournament and planned to cruise the Mississippi River afterwards. They worried about flight disruptions when they return to Michigan from New Orleans in two weeks.
“We’re glad we’re flying today because we heard they’re going to start cutting back tomorrow,” said Tom Mills, 73.
Susan Mills, 73, added: “Both Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’re not traveling. People that are, I feel sorry for.” They worried for their daughter, who had plans to rendezvous with them in Tennessee via a Spirit Airlines flight from Flint to Nashville.
Mustafa Musleh of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been experiencing several delays as a weekly flyer using United and Delta. He was concerned the new flight cuts would make his travel experience even more difficult. He arrived in Detroit Thursday with plans to head to Atlanta next for his work as a safety inspection specialist at Honeywell, a job that requires coast-to-coast travel.
“Next week, I have another job in Texas. Next week, I go to Virginia. Another week, I go to San Fransisco … the last few weeks, delays have been very obvious, flight takes 30 minutes now it takes an hour and a half,” said Musleh, 58.
Dan Downey, 75, of Austin, Texas, didn’t experience any delays in his journey to DTW on Thursday. Upon arrival, he waited for the Michigan Flyer to take him to East Lansing and said he’d been monitoring the FAA’s decisions.
“I was watching it carefully because I thought, ‘Is it going to be a mess?’ I almost canceled this trip, but it was fine, there was no problem at all,” Downey said. “My next travel is probably going to be in March (or) April. And by then, all of this chaos, God willing, it’ll be over.”
Impacted airports
1. Anchorage International in Alaska
2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International in Georgia
3. Boston Logan International in Massachusetts
4. Baltimore/Washington International in Maryland
5. Charlotte Douglas International in North Carolina
6. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International in Ohio
7. Dallas Love Field in Texas
8. Ronald Reagan Washington National in Virginia
9. Denver International in Colorado
10. Dallas/Fort Worth International in Texas
11. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County in Michigan
12. Newark Liberty International in New Jersey
13. Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International in Florida
14. Honolulu International in Hawaii
15. Houston Hobby in Texas
16. Washington Dulles International in Virginia
17. George Bush Houston Intercontinental in Texas
18. Indianapolis International in Indiana
19. John F. Kennedy International in New York
20. Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas
21. Los Angeles International in California
22. LaGuardia Airport in New York
23. Orlando International in Florida
24. Chicago Midway International in Illinois
25. Memphis International in Tennessee
26. Miami International in Florida
27. Minneapolis/St Paul International in Minnesota
28. Oakland International in California
29. Ontario International in California
30. Chicago O`Hare International in Illinois
31. Portland International in Oregon
32. Philadelphia International in Pennsylvania
33. Phoenix Sky Harbor International in Arizona
34. San Diego International in California
35. Louisville International in Kentucky
36. Seattle/Tacoma International in Washington
37. San Francisco International in California
38. Salt Lake City International in Utah
39. Teterboro in New Jersey
40. Tampa International in Florida
Source: Assocaited Press
