U.S. airlines prepared to phase in hundreds of flight cuts at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday, including those in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, due to the government shutdown , according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce air traffic at 40 of the busiest airports across the U.S. includes locations across more than two dozen states and is likely to ripple far beyond those targeted places.

With just hours to go, airlines scrambled Thursday to figure out where to cut, and travelers with plans for the weekend and beyond were waiting nervously to see if their flights would take off as scheduled.

The affected airports include busy connecting hubs and those in popu

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