Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Houston

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr / BBC

I'm just returning from a work trip from El Paso, Texas, to Washington DC.

I'm currently in Houston - although I was supposed to be in Denver by this time.

It's been slightly chaotic. Last night, my airline called me to say I was rebooked on another, earlier flight, because of changes to the flight schedule.

That's not a problem - although it did mean a 2am wake up.

As we descended, the pilot of the aircraft warned passengers of the shutdown potentially impacting the airport.

"I don't know what this all means," he said candidly. "Check the boards and ask United staff for help or information."

In Houston, there were quite a few people that seemed to be having a tough time. I heard several people shouting into their mobile phones, presumably to their airlines.

At another part of the airport, there were about 75 people gathered around a screen to see the fate of their own voyage.

Overall, however, this has not been as chaotic as expected. The airports in El Paso and Houston seemed to be functioning smoothly, with no major hiccups so far. I fully expected one or both of my flights to be cancelled, and local Texas TV coverage of the shutdown provided a gloomy forecast.

I boarded and sat down a few minutes ago. Within seconds, the pilot chimed in over the loudspeaker to say we would be delayed in taking off, potentially by up to an hour.

"That's those ATC staffing issues," he said. "We'll let y'all know what we hear."

As US airports grapple with delays and cancellations following a mandated reduction in operations, airlines have begun issuing advice for customers.

United Airlines has published a comprehensive list of cancelled flights across its network for today and over the weekend. The vast majority are short haul, regional or commuter flights. Passengers are eligible for refunds or can rebook, even if their specific flight is not on the list. The airline also stresses its international routes and flights connecting its major US hubs will not be impacted.

American Airlines has said that for those travelling through certain airports and who meet certain criteria any change fee will be waived if passengers want to rebook.

Southwest Airlines has said the "vast majority" of their flights will not be impacted but that passengers will travel booked until next Wednesday can change plans or receive a refund at no cost.

Alaska Airlines has also implemented a flexible travel policy.

As a reminder, the transport secretary and FAA published a list of 40 major airports which would be affected.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Reporting from Washington's Reagan National Airport

One traveller has a long, expensive back-up plan for a cancelled flight.

I caught up with Anna just before she headed to her gate for a flight to Boston.

She tells me she is traveling to see her parents and her husband to celebrate her one-month wedding anniversary.

Her flight was slated for later this afternoon, but she changed it to this morning in case it got cancelled.

“I figured there will be more options for alternatives than later in the day,” she says.

Anna has also prepared for her flight back to DC on Monday.

She has bought a $300 refundable Amtrak train ticket in case that flight gets cancelled.

The 430 mile (692km) journey by train will be seven hours long instead of an hour and half by air.

As many as 1,238 flights into the US, out of the US or within the country have been delayed so far today.

A further 824 flights have been cancelled altogether.

As many as 40 flights out of Chicago O'Hare International airport were cancelled, and a further 57 were delayed.

And at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia had 38 cancellations and 30 delays.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Reporting from Washington's Reagan National Airport

I just spoke with US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy here at the airport, where he says he was observing any impacts of the reduction in flights.

I asked if international flights could be cut next if the shutdown stretches on.

“We have international agreements that we have to abide by,” he says.

“Because of those international agreements, I'm not going to impact those international flights.

"If I do, what will happen is we have other countries that are waiting to have a breach of those contracts from the US so they can cut down American flights, and that would have a very long-lasting impact on our ability to send travellers from the US to those partnering countries.”

But that doesn’t mean international travellers will not be impacted.

While the official directive released yesterday says international flights are to remain the same, it also leaves open the possibility of further cancellations. And if there is a shortage of air traffic controllers at airports, it could lead to wide-spread delays.

There are 40 US airports that will be impacted by the FAA-mandated reduction of flights.

These include major transport hubs like New York's JFK, Los Angeles LAX and - the busiest airport in the world by passenger numbers - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

You can read the full list of airports here.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Reporting from Washington's Reagan National Airport

I’m at Washington National Airport in Virginia, just across the river from the US capital. This is one of the airports listed as among the 40 busiest where the US transportation department has ordered a reduction in service to ease pressure on air traffic controllers.

On the departures board, so far only a few flights are in the red on the first day of this directive, but it’s still early in the morning here and more flights are due.

Image source, Getty Images

Some travellers are choosing to avoid the airports altogether and drive instead.

Car rental company Hertz says it has seen a big increase in one-way bookings for Saturday - when the reduction in air traffic is expected to reach 5%.

The company says its bookings for the coming weekend spiked by more than 20% compared to a year ago, following the Federal Aviation Administration's announcement of the planned cuts on Wednesday.

CEO Gil West has urged Congress to end the shutdown to "restore certainty for travellers".

"Every day of delay creates unnecessary disruption," he says.

Image source, Reuters

In the last hour or so, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has spoken with the BBC's US partner CBS News.

He starts the interview by saying his number one job is "safety", and explains that his decision to reduce flight capacity at airports across the country will take "pressure" out of the system.

Some air traffic controllers are working 10-hour days, six days a week, he says, with fatigue setting in and others calling in sick or looking for second jobs.

"My job is to be pre-emptive," he says, adding that he will share the data behind the federal government's decision later, when pushed by CBS.

In our last post, we wrote about one air traffic controller who described the added financial anxiety he was experiencing on top of the pressures of his day job.

Image source, EPA

Air traffic controller Jack Criss, who works at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, has told the BBC he has been doing food deliveries for DoorDash on his lunch break and after work in order to make ends meet.

Criss tells the BBC World Service's Newsday programme that not knowing when he might get paid has prompted anxiety on top of the already stressful job that he does.

He says he almost feels "betrayed" by the government, adding that although he loves his job at the military base, ultimately people go to work to get paid.

"None of us should have to worry about having to go to work and not knowing exactly when our pay check will hit," he says.

Criss is raising his daughter as a single parent and also has other family members relying on him. He now does food deliveries where he can to ensure an income, but adds that he wouldn't compromise on his sleep knowing the focus which is required to do his day job safely.

Robin Levinson King
BBC News North America

In other countries, governments keep functioning, even in the midst of wars and constitutional crises. So why does this uniquely American phenomenon keep happening?

In the US, shutdowns have become a kind of bargaining tool for political leaders - and a perennial phenomenon.

America's federal system of government allows different branches of government to be controlled by different parties. It was a structure devised by the nation's founders to encourage compromise and deliberation, but lately it has had the opposite effect.

That's because in 1980, the attorney general under President Jimmy Carter issued a narrow interpretation of the 1884 Anti-Deficiency Act. The 19th Century spending law banned the government from entering into contracts without congressional approval. For almost a century, if there was a gap in budgets, the government had allowed necessary spending to continue. But after 1980, the government took a much stricter view: no budget, no spending.

The first US shutdown occurred shortly after in 1981, when President Ronald Reagan vetoed a funding bill, and lasted for a few days. Since then, there's been at least 10 others that led to government agencies shutting their doors, lasting anywhere from half a day to more than a month.

This current one, entering its 38th day, is the longest on record.

Have you experienced flight disruption due to the shutdown?

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Image source, Reuters

As the shutdown enters its 38th day, Senate Republicans are said to be planning another vote in a bid to end it.

Sources have told the BBC's US partner CBS News the plan involves a vote on advancing the continuing resolution - which is a temporary funding measure to end the shutdown - which was passed by the House.

In a bid to sway Democrats, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is reportedly considering putting forward a new temporary spending measure that would reopen the government until January, as well as funding bills for agriculture, military construction and legislative agencies.

The key demand of Democrats is a vote on extending healthcare subsidies. Beyond that, different Democrats are pursuing different strategies for extracting concessions from Republicans.

"My hopes and expectations are always that we're going to have enough Democrats to actually proceed, but I don't know, we'll see," Thune told reporters at the Capitol.

Friday's vote would need 60 votes to succeed, a bar that the Senate has failed to clear for the last 37 days.

Image source, whitehouse.gov

Republicans and Democrats have blamed one another for the federal shutdown, which is entering its second month and is now the longest in US history.

Republicans, who control both houses of Congress as well as the White House, blame Democrats for the impasse, saying they should agree to pass a "clean" funding resolution that would simply continue current spending levels.

The White House website has even created a rolling clock, external with the caption: "Democrats have shut down the government."

Because Republicans hold a slim majority in the chamber, they need a handful of Democrats in order to meet the 60-vote threshold to pass the resolution.

Democrats have been fairly unified in holding out for a resolution that addresses health care costs for lower-income Americans that are set to rise soon.

Airlines could be fined as much as $75,000 (£57,220) for every flight they operate above the US Department of Transportation and FAA's reduced capacity limit.

An emergency order published by the US government on Thursday states that it hopes to achieve a temporary 10% reduction in flights at 40 high traffic airports across the country by 14 November.

The federal government says air traffic controllers "have been working without pay, and staffing triggers at air traffic facilities across the country have been increasing".

As we've been reporting, the reduction in operations will be gradual, with the government aiming for a 4% reduction on Friday, 6% by Tuesday 11 November, 8% reduction by 13 November and the desired 10% reduction by 14 November.

Image source, Getty Images

We can bring you some more lines from Nick Daniels now.

The president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the longer the government shutdown goes on for, the greater the risk.

Air traffic control is a job which requires 100% focus, 100% of the time, Daniels tells the BBC's US partner, CBS News.

But his colleagues are "worried about putting gas in their car, they're worried about putting food on the table, they can't even pay for childcare in some instances", he says.

He says that air traffic controllers have received a partial paycheck going into the shutdown and "for 37 days, they've received zero income for the work that they've done, [and] a lot of times that's 60 hours a week".

The stalemate is "manifesting in anger", Daniels says, adding that it's also harming their mental well-being.

"Today, one of the air traffic controllers was evicted from their apartments," he says.

"Not only are the trainees feeling the pain ... it's those who are in mid-career, we're seeing them start to resign too".

"Like many families, we didn't plan for a shutdown. Yet the bills don't stop."

These are the words of one air traffic controller who has had to take up a second job working for a food delivery service to supplement his income - or lack of - during the government shutdown.

Writing recently for MSNBC, the single father says he's working this job after his daily air traffic shift ends and is "sleeping only two hours most nights".

He's one of thousands of air traffic controllers who have now been working without pay for two weeks. Yesterday, many received paychecks in the amount of $0.

The shutdown has exacerbated an already-strained body of federal workers. While some air traffic controllers are working without pay, others are furloughed altogether.

Some are looking for second jobs, like the man above, while others are increasingly calling in sick.

"The controllers are wearing thin," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News on Sunday.

Nick Daniels, the president of the labour union representing more than 20,000 aviation workers, put the situation into stark terms on Wednesday.

"Air traffic controllers are texting: 'I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car to come to work,'" he told CNN.

"We base what we do day in and day out on predictability," he said. "Right now there is no predictability."

In the US there are 14,000 air traffic controllers stationed across 527 airport control towers - many of whom have not received a cent of their salaries for two weeks.

Together, they handle more than 16,000,000 flights every year - that's around 44,000 every single day.

At peak times, controllers around the US can be responsible for safely directing more than 5,000 flights at the same time.

So, when the FAA says it will start by reducing 4% of domestic flights, these are the figures we're subtracting from - and, if this rises to the planned 10% by 14 November, it could mean about 4,000 flights per day being affected.

Image source, Reuters

More than 800 flights scheduled for today have been cancelled, according to tracking website FlightAware, external.

The site says SkyWest has cancelled more than 170 flights, Southwest Airlines has dropped around 120 and United has cut 64.

FlightAware says around 200 flights within, into or out of the US were axed yesterday.

Jack Grey
Live reporter

The experience for passengers whose flights have been cancelled will significantly depend on which airline they're flying with, travel expert Simon Calder tells the BBC.

“If transatlantic flights start being cancelled, then the difference in passenger rights between UK and EU flights and US flights will become clear,” he says.

The FAA has said the cuts won't apply to international flights, but that specific airlines may choose to also axe some of those flights too.

Calder says that at this stage it is highly unlikely that any transatlantic flights will be impacted, with internal "commuter routes" likely to be the first to see cancellations.

But in the event they are, he says those travelling with a UK or EU carrier to the US would be entitled to be put up in a hotel and flown on any airline that has seats available.

Those flying with a US airline, even if that ticket was booked via a UK carrier such as British Airways, will not have these protections, he adds.

“If you’re on a US airline then they can say ‘we’re not covered by these rights, find yourself your own hotel and we’ll fly you out when we can’.”