Airline disruptions continued across the United States on Thursday morning, with more than 1,000 flights cancelled, according to the tracker. conscious flightas officials warned it could take days for airports to return to service despite President Donald Trump signing a bill to end the government shutdown on Wednesday.
In addition to 1,017 cancellations, some 2,478 flights were delayed as of Thursday at 4:30 p.m. ET, and 415 flights scheduled for Friday were also already canceled, according to FightAware.
Air travel could take up to a week to return to normal operations after the government shutdown ends, Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
The sun sets over an air traffic control tower at O’Hare International Airport in Illinois, Chicago, USA, on November 12, 2025.
Daniel Cole/Reuters
Airports experiencing the most cancellations Thursday include Chicago O’Hare International Airport with 52, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with 43 and Denver International Airport with 37, according to FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday froze flight reductions that were initially scheduled to increase Thursday, as the number of canceled flights in the United States has steadily declined this week.
The FAA issued an emergency order Wednesday night to freeze flight reductions at their current level of 6%.
Under an earlier order, airlines were required to reduce operations at 40 “high-impact airports” by 8% by Thursday and 10% by Friday. The new order means those reductions will no longer increase.
With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, Sununu said he doesn’t see any impact lasting into the holiday season.
“I don’t think any flights during Thanksgiving week have been canceled yet. I think the airlines have been working pretty closely with the FAA waiting a few days to be sure,” Sununu said. “We’re still a good week away from that Thanksgiving week. There’s still plenty of time to make sure everything during Thanksgiving week goes as originally planned.”
Pilots and passengers crowd the gate area as flight delays persist amid FAA measures, more than a month into the current US government shutdown, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, US, on November 10, 2025.
Chris Helgren/Reuters
The 6% flight reductions will remain in place “as the FAA continues to assess the situation and determine when airlines and systems can safely and gradually return to normal operations,” the Transportation Department said.
The order comes after more than 900 flights were canceled on Wednesday in the US at approximately 8 pm ET, with departures from the busy hubs of Chicago, Denver and Atlanta topping the list for the most cancellations, according to FlightAware.
However, cancellations and delays have been slowly declining throughout the week, once Congress appeared ready to end the shutdown.
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey, Meredith Deliso and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
