The White House on Thursday announced United Airlines is canceling hundreds of flights originally scheduled for Friday “due to the Democrat shutdown.”
As airlines make decisions on which flights to cut to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-mandated flight restrictions, cancelations are beginning to appear on FlightAware, a flight-tracking data application.
As of 4:25 p.m. ET Thursday, FlightAware lists 445 cancelations across the US Friday—more than Wednesday and Thursday’s total number of cancelations combined.
Several of the major airlines are near the top of the list of cancelations, along with regional carriers.
“This could’ve all been avoided if Democrats simply did their jobs. Instead, they chose chaos,” White House officials wrote in an X post.
United Airlines Thursday afternoon announced its flight schedule, beginning Friday, has been adjusted.
Those whose flights have been impacted will be automatically rebooked on a different flight and notified.
United announced it is avoiding cancelations for long-haul international flights and hub-to-hub flights operating between seven airports, including: Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO) and Washington Dulles (IAD).
The company said it is working to ensure those with connections can keep their full itineraries.
Travelers are eligible for a refund if they choose not to fly—even if their flight isn’t impacted, according to United.
“We’re doing everything we can to minimize disruptions to your travel plans, and we’ll continue to provide updates as we have them,” the airline wrote in a statement on X.
FOX Business’ Grady Trimble contributed to this blog post.
