The Federal Aviation Administration plans to reduce air traffic by 10% starting Friday at some of the country's busiest airports if the federal government shutdown continues, officials said Wednesday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the reduction would occur in 40 "high-volume traffic markets."

"We’re trying to lean into the fact that when we see pressures building in these 40 markets we just can't ignore it, you know, and 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 to prevent things from deteriorating," Bedford said at a news conference.

Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, resulting in delays

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