CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) -- Experts say there are approximately 45,000 flights that are being managed by air traffic control, but that number is set to drop due to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The FAA announced Wednesday that they're cutting 10% of flights across the nation to take pressure off of air traffic controllers.

WCIA spoke with an expert at the University of Illinois to gauge the health of the system, ask if this was needed and how worried we should be.

Sheldon Jacobson is a computer science professor at the U of I specializing in artificial intelligence and the air travel system. He actually helped build a big part of it.

"I contributed to the design of TSA PreCheck," Jacobson said.

He said that right now, air traffic control is fragile, but it didn't star

See Full Page