John Denver once sang, “I’m leaving on a jet plane.” In 2025, it’s more like, “I’m staying home because the FAA said no planes.” As the longest government shutdown in US history stretches into its second month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered airlines to cut 10% of flights across 40 major airports, creating the worst pre-holiday travel disruption in a generation. For millions of Americans, this isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s the collision of political dysfunction, economic anxiety, and logistical chaos. Thanksgiving travel - the country’s most sacred migration is now hostage to a shutdown that has frozen everything from air traffic salaries to safety oversight. At the heart of the crisis is money or rather, the absence of it. The government shutdown began on

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