As reductions in flight traffic mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration took effect Friday morning — prompted by the government shutdown, now into its sixth week — travelers arriving at Bay Area airports faced significant flight delays and a ground stop.

The FAA announced Wednesday that it would reduce air traffic by 10% at 40 major aviation hubs across the country to maintain safety as air traffic controllers show signs of strain, including at San Francisco International Airport and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.

SFO was put into a ground stop shortly before 4 a.m. due to staffing, according to an advisory issued by the FAA. As of 4 a.m., the airport was experiencing average ground delays of one hour and six minutes, according to a second FAA advisory.

Air traffic controlle

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