Mass cancellations of flights in the United States are causing havoc for travellers after the government ordered a reduction in the flight schedule due to a lack of air traffic controllers.

The reduced flight schedule, set to begin on Friday, comes as the US continues with its longest-ever government shutdown , which began on October 1, after Congress was unable to agree on a federal funding bill.

On Thursday night, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a phased-in reduction plan, which sets out that airlines must cut 4 percent of domestic flights from 6am EST (11:00 GMT) on Friday and gradually increase to 10 percent by November 14.

So far, no international flights have been affected by the planned cancellations.

According to an estimate by the aviation analytics fir

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