The first day of flight cutbacks ordered by the Trump administration due to the government shutdown meant plenty of delays and cancellations Friday morning at San Francisco International Airport.
FlightAware.com (opens in new tab) said there had been 45 cancellations and 56 delayed flights before 9 a.m. SFO officials said 39 of the cancellations had been removed from the schedule Thursday, “probably” due to the Federal Aviation Administration ordering airlines to reduce flights by 4% Friday and by 10% Nov. 14.
“Probably fair to say the 39 were related to the FAA order given the advance nature of those cancellations,” SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel said.
According to the FAA’s National Airspace System status page (opens in new tab), SFO was under a ground delay that began at 7:38 a.m. and was expected to last until just before 1 p.m., with flights delayed an average of 66 minutes.
Some delays affected short flights along the West Coast and were due to the perennial issues of low clouds and fog, Yakel noted.
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Airlines have begun notifying customers about impending cuts. United, which accounts for nearly 50% of SFO’s traffic, said domestic flights between its hub cities and long-haul international flights will be unaffected. Several airlines are allowing customers to cancel or rebook flights without any charge.