Impact of FAA flight reductions and government shutdown

On the heels of the FAA’s announcement to reduce flights by 10% across 40 major U.S. airports amid the ongoing government shutdown, travelers are increasingly seeking flexible booking options when booking upcoming trips.

HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) has reported a significant uptick in purchases of Disruption Assistance across its HTS partner base as travelers prepare for heightened flight delays and cancellations in the coming weeks, following the FAA’s capacity cuts and in advance of the busy Thanksgiving holiday period.

Surge in Traveler Demand for Disruption Assistance

Since the start of the government shutdown, HTS has observed a 40% increase across its partner ecosystem in travelers adding Disruption Assistance to their bookings. Immediately following the FAA’s announcement on Wednesday, November 5th, sales of Disruption Assistance surged nearly 60% overnight across HTS’ partner channels, underscoring the growing consumer concerns over upcoming travel plans and a strong market demand for flexible booking services.

Snapshot of US delays & cancellations prior to FAA flight reductions:

Prior to the FAA’s reduction in flights, the delay rate (over 1 hour delay) from US airports in September, before the shutdown, averaged 4.8%. October saw delays rise to 5.4% of departing US flights, and November is pacing even higher (5.8%) in the first few days of the month. Cancellations have also increased from impacting 0.56% of flights in September to over 0.6% in October and November.

Immediate Impact of FAA Flight Reductions over the next week (beginning Friday, November 7th): 

Beginning Friday, November 7th, when the FAA reductions took effect, hundreds of flights were canceled nationwide as reductions took effect at 40 high-traffic airports. According to Hopper and HTS’ data, more than 15 million seats are scheduled to depart from the 40 busiest US airports over the week period (November 7-14th). Reducing flight departures by ~10% from the 40 busiest airports would result in more than 13.3K flights being cancelled or significantly delayed. This would impact over 1.5 million seats currently scheduled to depart.

Impact on Thanksgiving Travel (Saturday, Nov 22 - Monday, Dec 1):

Nearly 22 million seats are scheduled to depart from Saturday, November 22nd, through Monday, December 1st, for the Thanksgiving travel period. If 10% of flights are cancelled or delayed significantly over this ~10-day travel period, more than 2.1 million seats could be cancelled or significantly disrupted. This does not include the other domino effect disruptions that may occur from the mass rescheduling and lower staffing.

Travel Sentiment

Following the FAA’s announcement and ongoing shutdown, many travelers are expressing new concerns about the impact on their upcoming holiday travel plans. In fact, according to new survey data from Hopper and HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) latest 2025 Holiday Travel Index, 70% of Americans say they are concerned about travel disruptions (flight delays and cancellations) impacting their holiday plans this year. 

Furthermore, travelers ranked flexibility as a critical factor in holiday travel plans. 93% of American travelers said flexibility (e.g., the ability to cancel or change travel plans) was important, with nearly 50% saying it is “very” important when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas plans.

How Disruption Assistance Works?

• With Disruption Assistance, if a traveler is delayed, cancelled or miss a connecting flight, you can immediately rebook your flight on any carrier. 

• HTS actively monitors all flights for disruption, and travelers are proactively notified of any delays of 2+ hours for any reason. 

• Travelers can rebook a new flight to their destination on any airline. If they're not satisfied with their options, they can receive a 100% refund of their flight.

How Disruption Assistance is helping airlines and travel providers navigate the FAA reductions and ongoing government shutdown?

HTS’ Disruption Assistance ancillary is a premium add-on that delights customers covering day of departure disruption, starting from delays of just one to two hours. Travelers are automatically notified of a delay or cancellation, regardless of the cause of the disruption. Travelers choose between rebooking a new flight, on any airline, up to a maximum allowed additional cost, or keeping their delayed flight and getting compensation for 100% of their ticket cost. The entire rebooking and compensation process is automated and instant.

Like all of HTS’ fintech ancillaries, this product is dynamically priced using proprietary machine learning models. As a result, the cost for consumers will vary depending on a number of variables, including the total trip cost, the route, the time of year, etc. 

This product can be directly integrated into an airline’s booking system via API. For airlines, there is both a benefit for the brand and financial upside. The airline gets a profit share generated by the new ancillary revenue and also saves on operational costs as 100% of the compensations or rebooking is covered by HTS. In terms of brand loyalty, airlines can prioritize traveler experience and foster long-term trust with their customers by tapping into other airlines’ networks and offering a wider range of options for travelers. This offering not only builds loyalty and trust among customers but also serves as a key competitive differentiator during widespread events, such as the current FAA reduction and ongoing government shutdown.

To learn more about HTS’ Disruption Assistance for Any Reason, click here.