If you're flying soon, you're probably following the daily news headlines with a lot of dread. The Federal Aviation Administration announced this week that it would slash flight capacity by 10% at 40 high-traffic US airports beginning Friday. The cuts are due to a record-long government shutdown that has affected air traffic controllers, who are working without pay and were already shorthanded even before the disruption began on Oct. 1.

There's no set end time for the flight reduction, which could spread beyond those 40 airports. Looming in the background is the high-volume holiday travel season.

A representative for the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier in the week, airline employees were already bracing for flight disruptions. On Wednesday morning,

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