HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Passengers that ABC13 spoke with say the first day of the FAA air traffic reduction caused stress and sleep loss.<\/p>\n
For some IAH passengers, Friday wasn’t a normal travel experience.<\/p>\n
“I was freaking out this entire morning,” passenger Albert Garcia recalled. “I was like, ‘we’ve got to get here three hours before.'”<\/p>\n
“I’m scared, terrified,” passenger Francia Imane said. “I’m here four hours earlier, hoping things go well. I didn’t sleep last night.”<\/p>\n
The anxious feelings that passengers say are tied to what started on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration<\/a> asked airlines to reduce their schedules at 40 airports, including Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports.<\/p>\n Officials say the reduction is needed to keep passengers safe some federal workers who haven’t been paid for more than a month aren’t showing up for work. For now, the reduction is 4%.<\/p>\n In the coming days, FAA officials said they’ll ask for more. Next Tuesday, it climbs to 6%. By Thursday, it’s 8%. And next Friday, it’s 10%.<\/p>\n “A lot of stress,” Imane explained. “All the way from downsizing, packing light, trying to avoid anything that’s going to bring any kind of delays.”<\/p>\n Here’s how the first day went. FlightAware data shows there were 52 cancellations between the two airports.<\/p>\n That’s compared to just 11 cancellations between both airports on Thursday. As for Saturday, more than 40 flights have been canceled so far. So far, 20 cancellations are listed for Sunday.<\/p>\n “We are traveling for softball, and a couple of parents said their flights got cancelled,” Garcia said.<\/p>\n Frontier Airlines’ CEO, Billy Biffle, shared a suggestion on social media<\/a> on how to handle the situation. He advised passengers to buy a backup ticket for a later flight on the same day to avoid impact to their travel plans.<\/p>\n “Who has that kind of money? You can’t do that,” Imane said. “Things are tight. Workers haven’t been paid yet, and that is not even a reasonable solution.”<\/p>\n If you are traveling in the coming days, airlines have made changes to help impacted customers. Some of those airlines, including United<\/a> and Southwest<\/a>, are offering passengers who don’t want to deal with this to get a refund, even if their flights aren’t canceled.<\/p>\n For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2025 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n