The Federal Aviation Administration is prohibiting most private jets from using a dozen of the nation’s busiest airports, citing a shortage of air traffic controllers that has strained the U.S. aviation system amid a prolonged government shutdown.
Starting Monday night, the FAA will publish Notices to Air Missions barring nonscheduled private and corporate aircraft operations at these hubs:
— Chicago O’Hare International Airport
— Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
— Denver International Airport
— Boston Logan International Airport
— George Bush Intercontinental Airport
— Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
— New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
— Los Angeles International Airport
— Newark Liberty International Airport
— Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
— Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
— Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
“Safety and efficiency are our top priorities,” an FAA spokesperson said. “Given current staffing levels, we must prioritize scheduled commercial operations to maintain safe and reliable service.”
The move comes as thousands of air traffic controllers, essential workers in the FAA system, remain unpaid while Congress looks to close a deal that would end the ongoing government shutdown, which began Oct. 1.
An industry group, the National Business Aviation Association, said these new restrictions will “effectively prohibit business aviation operations” at the 12 airports, hitting an industry that supports more than 1 million jobs and contributes roughly $340 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
The directive makes exceptions only for aircraft based at those airports, emergency services, law enforcement, firefighting, military flights, or flights the FAA specifically authorizes.
The FAA had already announced wide flight-capacity cuts at 40 high-volume airports, reducing scheduled commercial operations incrementally by up to 10% to ease staffing pressure.
Business aviation executives warn that although commercial flights may be prioritized, private-jet operators will be left with limited or no access at key hubs — complicating travel for executives and reducing flexibility for companies.
They further say the ban could push business-aviation traffic to smaller airports — yet in many cases that means longer ground transfers or missing major carrier connections.
Congressional leaders and the FAA are under pressure to resolve the controller-staffing crisis and reopen the affected airport access.
According to FlightAware, more than 4,500 commercial flights were canceled over the weekend and over 17,000 were delayed as staffing deteriorated around the country.
Aviation industry members cheered the Senate’s progress toward ending the shutdown late Sunday, but the solution for the impasse has not yet been finalized.
“Safety is the cornerstone of business aviation, and NBAA is fully committed to ensuring the safety of the NAS [National Airspace System],” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said in a statement late Sunday. “Among the ways we will do that is to ensure business aviation operators have an understanding of these restrictions and their implications.”
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