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A traveler moves in view of a control tower at Philadelphia International Airport on Nov. 5. (Matt Rourke/AP)

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Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago along with hubs across the U.S. are among the 40 that will see flights cut starting Nov. 7 due to the��government shutdown, according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press.

The��Federal Aviation Administration��said Nov. 5 that it will reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the ongoing��government shutdown.

The airports impacted cover the busiest across the U.S. — including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Miami, and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities — such as New York, Houston and Chicago — multiple airports will be affected.

The FAA is imposing the flight reductions to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the government shutdown and have been increasingly calling off work.

Controllers already have missed one full paycheck and are scheduled to again receive nothing next week as as the shutdown drags on.

The FAA has been delaying flights at times when airports or its other facilities are short on controllers.

Passengers should start to be notified about cancellations Nov. 6. ��Airlines said they would try to minimize the��impact on customers, some of whom will see weekend travel plans disrupted with little notice.

United Airlines said it would focus the cuts on smaller regional routes that use smaller planes like 737s. United, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said they would offer refunds to passengers who opt not to fly��— even if they purchased tickets that aren’t normally refundable.

The head of Frontier Airlines recommended that travelers buy backup tickets with another airline to avoid being stranded.

Experts predict hundreds if not thousands of flights��could be canceled. The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats combined, according to an estimate by aviation analytics firm Cirium.

“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” Bedford said Nov. 5. “We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”

Air traffic controllers have been working unpaid since the shutdown began Oct. 1. Most work mandatory overtime six days a week, leaving little time for side jobs to help cover bills and other expenses unless they call out.

Mounting staffing pressures are forcing the agency to act, Bedford said.

“We can’t ignore it,” he said, adding that even if the shutdown ends before Friday, the FAA wouldn't automatically resume normal operations until staffing improves and stabilizes.

Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Nov. 6 that they would meet with airline executives to figure out how to safely implement the reductions.

Major airlines, aviation unions and the broader travel industry have been urging Congress to end the shutdown, which��on Nov. 6 became the longest on record.

The shutdown is putting unnecessary strain on the system and “forcing difficult operational decisions that disrupt travel and damage confidence in the U.S. air travel experience," said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman in a statement.

Duffy��warned��on Nov. 4 that there could be chaos in the skies if the shutdown drags on long enough for air traffic controllers to miss their second full paycheck next week.

Duffy said some controllers can get by missing one paycheck, but not two or more. And he has said some controllers are even struggling to pay for transportation to work.

Staffing can run short both in regional control centers that manage multiple airports and in individual airport towers, but they don’t always lead to flight disruptions. Throughout October, flight delays caused by staffing problems had been largely isolated and temporary.

But the past weekend brought some of the worst staffing issues since the start of the shutdown.

From Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, is well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.

During weekends from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, the average number of airport towers, regional control centers and facilities monitoring traffic at higher altitudes that announced potential staffing issues was 8.3, according to the AP analysis. But during the five weekend periods since the shutdown began, the average more than tripled to 26.2 facilities.

Associated Press journalist Christopher L. Keller contributed from Albuquerque, N.M.

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