KEY TAKEAWAYS:

FAA to reduce air traffic at 40 major U.S. airports starting Friday.

Travelers scramble, with some canceling flights and opting for road trips.

Airlines offer refunds and focus cuts on smaller regional routes.

Holiday travel faces disruptions amid longest government shutdown in history.

Travelers braced for canceled flights, scrambled plans and holidays stranded in airports as a U.S. government shutdown threatened to snarl trips across the country.

News that the Federal Aviation Administration will reduce air traffic at 40 airports beginning Friday set off a flurry of worry among those planning trips.

“Oh no,” said 31-year-old Talia Dunyak, who is due to fly next week from Vienna to Philadelphia, among the airports targeted by the FAA for flight cutbacks. “I’m re

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