While the 10% flight reduction mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration is certain to be disruptive to travelers, it’s actually just an extreme form of a measure the agency uses routinely to address its staffing issues.

The FAA’s air traffic control organization has been understaffed for years if not decades – experts estimate the agency is short about 3,500 air traffic controllers currently – so it’s used to dealing with these kinds of issues. Even prior to the shutdown, the FAA would implement air traffic flow control programs that reduced flights through particularly squeezed airspace.

It’s unprecedented for this to happen all at once on a national scale, but the scope, and not the tool, is the remarkable thing here.

“This is really a continuation of challenges we’ve been seeing throughout this year, not just in the U.S., (but) worldwide from staffing and obviously the shutdown has really accelerated and made more significant challenges.” Hayley Berg, lead economist at online booking platform Hopper, told USA TODAY. “We’ve already been seeing slightly reduced schedules because of this. Seeing a 10% cut on the 40 largest airports, my initial reaction is this is going to impact millions of travelers and it’s unfortunate, but if it’s what needs to be done for the safety of travelers, there’s no question, it’s the right decision.”

Since the shutdown started, the FAA’s staffing has been under a microscope. Air traffic controllers are essential workers and have been reporting for duty without pay. They were largely credited with bringing the previous-longest shutdown to a close, as staffing-related delays piled up.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the current order to reduce air traffic was meant to alleviate some of the pressure on air traffic controllers, particularly as some have had to find other ways to earn income while they’re not receiving their paychecks.

“Some have made the decision to not come to work and to take a second job,” he said in an interview with Breitbart News. “That has put a lot of pressure on the air traffic control system.”

Here’s what travelers need to know.

Air traffic reduction adds uncertainty

The question looming over this traffic reduction is what it means for flight schedules, and that’s harder to answer than with some other disruptions that affect air travel.

“It’s going to be painful for travelers. It’s very different than any other type of event that slows down travel. I mean, 70–75% of travel delays are caused by weather. The weather moves out of the area – it ends,” Michael Taylor, senior travel advisor for J.D. Power, told USA TODAY. “The problem with this is we have no idea when this is actually going to end. And the second thing about it is weather is kind of located in one spot or at least moves from spot to spot to spot. All these outages are going to be spread all over the United States and Canada, and that’s going to make it very difficult for certain markets, especially the smaller ones, I think, to get reliable service.”

Airlines have tried to anticipate schedule changes and work with passengers as much as possible to provide alternatives, but it’s still going to be a dynamic period in airline scheduling until the restrictions end, especially as Duffy warns that further reductions may be required to keep travelers safe.

“I would expect a pretty immediate impact, but not necessarily just for travelers who are flying on, say, Saturday or Sunday. What we would expect is airlines are going to manage forward their capacity for the next couple of weeks, rearranging schedules,” Berg said. “The good news is one lever airlines have is they can reduce the number of flights but put larger jets on those routes. There will be some optimization, so it’s not that 10% of flights are deleted for travelers. But we will definitely see higher cancellation rates … and I think we should expect to see a continuation of the increased delay rates that we’ve already been seeing.”

How airlines decide which flights to cut

Airlines have so far prioritized low-capacity and high-frequency routes in these cuts, but that still affects a broad swath of flyers.

“Airlines have to consider the flow of aircraft and crew when they cancel flights. It’s not just canceling one flight — that aircraft and those crew members are supposed to continue later in the day. So the airlines that have more round-trip loops in their schedule are in a better position to handle cancellations. If you cancel both flights of the loop, the aircraft and crew end up in the right place later. That avoids stranding planes and crew, which is what makes recovery possible,” Ahmed Abdelghany, associate dean for research at the David B. O’Maley College of Business in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told USA TODAY.

Still, Berg said, that leads to outsized impacts at smaller airports.

“If there’s already only three flights a week to a small airport in Colorado, they might be impacted in a more outsized way than we see a regular route like New York to LA or Boston to Miami,” she said.

Is flying still safe?

Overall, flying remains safe, but the FAA has warned that safety-related incidents, particularly instances when aircraft got closer together than they should have, either on the ground, or in the air, have increased since the shutdown started.

Duffy said that’s part of the reason he ordered the traffic reduction, so this measure should boost safety as the nation heads into the busy Thanksgiving travel period.

What travelers can do

With a lot of scheduling uncertainty, travelers need to make sure they sign up for alerts from their airline about schedule changes, and consider buying travel insurance.

“Make sure you’ve downloaded the airline’s app … A couple of days before your flight, just check in,” Berg said. “Add something like disruption assistance… It will give you more options if you are a disrupted passenger.”

Just make sure you buy a comprehensive policy that will actually cover issues caused by the shutdown.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why cutting flights is 'the right decision' during the government shutdown

Reporting by Zach Wichter, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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