Flights canceled at Richmond airport as shutdown affects airports nationwide

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration stated that it will reduce flight capacity by 10% at 40 high traffic airports around the country.

Richmond International Airport (RIC) was not included in the list of major airports, but many Central Virginians are left wondering, "how will this impact me?"

The decision to reduce flight capacity came Friday, Nov. 7, after the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy shared the following statement:

"My department has many responsibilities, but our number one job is safety. This isn’t about politics – it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue to work without pay ... It’s safe to fly today, and it will continue to be safe to fly next week because of the proactive actions we are taking."

8News reached out to RIC to gauge whether the airport is seeing any impacts due to the recent FAA announcement and federal government shutdown and received the following update from a spokesperson on Monday:

At present, we can see 15 flight cancellations (8% of 182 scheduled today). The cancellations do not list a reason but many of the flights are between RIC and airports with mandatory flight reductions.

Reminder: Travelers should monitor the status of their flights before heading to the airport.

--Richmond International Airport

Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) Bryon Bedford said, "We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely. The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.”   

While RIC states it's not seeing any impacts from the shutdown or recent FAA ruling, travelers leaving RIC to catch connecting flights to other major airports could experience difficulties.

According to a spokesperson for RIC, top gateways for connecting flights out of RIC include, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale -- all of which are included on the FAA's top 40 affected high impact airports list.

8News will continue to monitor flight impacts to the Central Virginia area.