Live updates: Delays, cancellations hit SFO, OAK after FAA's 10% flight reduction

Flight cancellations and delays added up at SFO Monday morning as the government shutdown continues.

Flight cancellations and delays added up at SFO Monday morning as the government shutdown continues.

Across the country, airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights early Monday morning.

Manuel Avila showed up to SFO almost three hours early. He was relieved his flights to Boston then Portugal were scheduled to be on time.

"I was expecting a lot more traffic and more people stressed out with not getting here on time or being canceled," Avila said. "But so far, our plane is on time so that's a good plus."

Leigh Williams said she's had no issues during her early flights between New York and SFO.

"For me, I've gotten very lucky but I've taken early flights so even when I left Manhattan-JFK-to come here, everything was on time and we actually got here 20 minutes early and it looks as though my flight's going to be on time and everything should be smooth sailing so I'm thrilled," Williams said.

Williams may be on to something. Experts recommend booking early morning flights because many of the staffing issues are happening later in the day or evening.

ABC News aviation analyst John Nance said once a deal is finalized to reopen the government - it will take time for airlines to sort out their schedules.

"Regardless of what happens regarding ending the government stalemate, it will take some time," Nance said. "It will take 5-6 days to begin to put everything back on an equal footing."

13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay during the government shutdown and a growing number are calling out sick. Friday, the FAA began reducing flights at 40 of the nation's busiest airports due to safety concerns caused by staffing shortages. SFO and Oakland International are among the 40 affected airports.

San Jose Mineta International Airport is not on the list but had seen more than a dozen flight cancellations Monday morning and more than 50 delays because of residual effects at the affected airports. SJC calls the effects there minimal.

As of 9:30 Monday morning, SFO saw at least 37 cancellations and 83 delays.

Oakland airport had at least 16 cancellations and 36 delays.

The FAA is demanding airlines cancel 6 percent of their flights starting Tuesday and 10 percent by Friday.

Avila is planning to arrive back home to Modesto a day before Thanksgiving so he hopes everything is back to normal for the holiday rush.

"With everything with the government, hopefully everything goes well that we can all get these people happy and healthy and traveling where they need to go for Thanksgiving," Avila said.

If you have a flight this week, SFO recommends checking directly with your airline before heading to the airport.

Delays are averaging 30 minutes.

There is progress toward ending the shutdown. But, travelers can still expect to deal with delays and cancellations for a while longer.

There is progress toward ending the shutdown. But, travelers can still expect to deal with delays and cancellations for a while longer.

Since Friday, the FAA has been reducing flights at 40 of the nation's busiest airports, including at two airports in the Bay Area.

Across the country, travelers at some airports dealt with delays and cancellations on Sunday.

At SFO, we caught up with Neil Batlivala who just landed.

He showed us a picture he took on the tarmac in New York.

"We were coming here from NY. From EWR. It was a 2-hour on the tarmac extra because there are about 23 planes all lined up behind us. It is what it is. They said it is to be safe with the limited staffing," said Neil Batlivala of New York.

Cristyn Chadwick, her husband and her dog Stevie flew from Los Angeles to sfo and encountered a minor delay.

"Once the plane was fully loaded they said 'oh no, we're going to have to wait to be delayed 30 minutes because SFO had backups.' So, I guess they had some air traffic control problems," said Chadwick.

Because of a cancellation, Leona Chao of San Francisco had to leave her husband and daughter a day early for a work trip.

"I had a Monday morning flight that was canceled. So, I had to rebook to a Sunday evening flight," said Leona Chao.

The ongoing government shutdown has strained air travel.

Around 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay for nearly a month now. Some have called out sick.

Last Friday, FAA began reducing flights at 40 of the nation's busiest airports to help keep air travel safe.

Travelers are bracing themselves for the possibility of more delays and cancellations, especially with holidays around the corner.

"I've been preparing myself for any outcome," said Raghav Daswani of Vancouver.
"We have flights. We're traveling a lot for next 2 months. We're just holding our breath we won't get caught. Because if we're see more and more of what we're seeing now, it's just going to get worse over the holiday," said Chadwick.

Late Sunday, there was word of a possible tentative agreement to end the federal government shutdown.

"It's a surprise but hopefully I come together," said Jake Kamstra of San Francisco.

At SFO on Sunday, there were nearly 50 flights canceled and more than 230 delays. Those numbers are expected to climb the rest of the week.

Flight reductions are expected to ramp up from 4% currently to 10% by Friday.

Even with a possible tentative agreement to end the government shutdown, "It's not like turning on a switch. It will take a week to sort things out," said John Nance, an aviation analyst for ABC News. He says travel disruptions will not end overnight.

"Regardless of what happens regarding ending the government stalemate, it will take some time. It will take 5 to 6 days to begin to put everything back on an equal footing," said Nance.

San Francisco International Airport reported 301 delays and 48 cancellations on Sunday afternoon.

SFO told ABC7 News that's high for a typical Sunday.

As of Sunday morning, more than 1700 flights were canceled in the U.S. and at least 5,700 have been delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expects it to get even worse.

"I look to you know the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle. We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays, they want to see their family, they want to celebrate this great American holiday. Listen, many them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly," he said.

Meanwhile Oakland's airport told ABC7 News it was pretty normal with only 6 cancellations and 40 delays.

U.S. airlines have canceled more than 2,500 weekend flights mostly because of the government shutdown and the Federal Aviation Administration's order to reduce air traffic.

The slowdown at 40 of the nation's busiest airports will head into its third day Sunday. So far there have not been any widespread disruptions.

FlightAware reports that cancellations jumped Saturday to more than 1,500, following just over 1,000 the previous day.

By Saturday evening airlines already had canceled another 1,000-plus Sunday flights.