Hundreds of flights across the United States were canceled starting on Friday, with deeper cuts looming in the coming days.

Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Department officials have said the traffic reduction is necessary to ease pressure on air traffic controllers, some of whom have been calling in sick and working second jobs because they have not been paid during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The officials identified 40 airports where flights should be cut in phases, with the goal of reducing activity by 10 percent by the end of next week.

The disruptions have rippled to other airports but, at least so far, they have appeared to be relatively limited. Airlines focused the first wave of cancellations on shorter, regional flights, and major airports were working largely as normal on Friday. But widespread concern that the situation could worsen brought home the effects of the government shutdown to many more Americans.

The reduction in traffic comes weeks before the busy holiday travel season begins in the United States. The airports that have already been affected range from large hubs to smaller destinations. They are in blue states and red states, spread across the country.

Here is a look at how cuts at affected airports compare to cancellations at those hubs this time last year:

A lung just harvested for an organ transplant. A part critically needed to restart an assembly line. The hottest toy for Christmas.

Those are among the kinds of goods shipped by the country’s complex air cargo system that could be significantly delayed following the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to reduce flight capacity at 40 major airports, including LAX, according to logistic experts.

The 10% reduction in flight capacity announced Thursday that included Los Angeles International Airport and other hubs because of air traffic controller shortages stemming from the government shutdown already resulted in more than 3,500 flights delays on U.S. soil and more 950 cancellations by Friday afternoon, according to FlightAware.com.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy warned Friday that 20% flight cuts could be in order if the shutdown continues.

“We are at a pivot point where certain things will be delayed and certain things will not,” said Vincent Iacopella, an executive at Alba Wheels Up, a logistics company that services LAX. “A higher percentage would be detrimental, but it’s also a matter of the length of the disruption.”

The air cargo system generally carries time-sensitive and high-value cargo such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and tech components whose speed of delivery takes precedence over cost.

It’s also peak season for retailers trying to get their hands on holiday goods that are fast moving or weren’t ready for ocean freight months ago.

“Getting that item to market that influencers have suddenly determined is this year’s must-have Christmas gift will be more challenging now,” trade economist Jock O’Connell said.

The system includes not only major carriers such UPS, DHL and FedEx but also smaller competitors and dedicated freighters operated by commercial airlines. Also playing a key role in same-day delivery is the cargo hold of passenger flights operated by commercial airlines.

“Shippers are using airlines, because airlines have flights in the air all day long. It’s treated as baggage,” said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Assn. “That’s the highest priority.”

Among the goods that Fried said are shipped in cargo holds are harvested lungs that need to be delivered to an operating table, temperature-sensitive and radiological pharmaceuticals and parts needed for assembly lines. Any cancellation or flight delay immediately would impact such deliveries.

“It’s just at the beginning. If this lasts for a few days, you’re going to see significant impact throughout the air cargo supply chain,” he said.

Less affected, he said, would be air cargo companies such as UPS that have their own fleet of planes and can fly at night outside the FAA flight restrictions that run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In a statement, Fed Ex said it had contingency plans in place to move “time-sensitive” and “critical shipments” such as lifesaving pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

LAX is one of the five largest cargo airports in the country and a major destination for cargo arriving from China, Taiwan and other Pacific Rim countries.

David Gibson, president of the Los Angeles Air Cargo Assn., said so far the FAA order has not disrupted international flights arriving in the U.S. as airlines adjust their operations domestically.

Many flight cancellations could be handled by long haul trucks, he said, but that could change if the FAA further restricts flights, he said.

“If it goes beyond this, then it can get really ugly, but I don’t think it will,” he said. “Maybe I’m just being hopeful.”

Victims of the January wildfires in Los Angeles County urged Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday to call for the resignation of California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, saying the regulator has allowed insurers to run roughshod over them.

Lara, an independently elected state official, was accused at an Altadena news conference of being too closely aligned with the interests of insurers who homeowners say have delayed, denied and lowballed claims, forcing victims to tap retirement accounts and max out credit cards as they fight for their benefits.

“Gov. Newsom, we need your help. Your Palisades constituents have your back. Now is the time for you to have ours,” said Jill Spivack, 59, a Pacific Palisades resident whose home of 25 years burned down but who has yet to start rebuilding.

“You made promises when the cameras were rolling,” Spivack added. “Now we need to see your actions behind those words. Commissioner Lara has proven he won’t protect consumers. Please replace him with someone who will.”

The event, attended by several dozen Altadena and Pacific Palisades fire victims, was held by the Eaton Fire Survivors Network and attended by other groups, including the Los Angeles insurance advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which called on Lara to resign last year.

Joy Chen, executive director of the network, cited recent surveys that found 70% of insured survivors have encountered delays and denials, while 8 in 10 Eaton and Palisades fire survivors are still displaced. The fires damaged or destroyed nearly 13,000 homes.

“We have an unprecedented housing crisis on our hands, which grew out of the insurance crisis on our hands,” Chen said. “That is why it is so urgent that Gov. Newsom act now.”

Newsom’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Lara —whose term expires in 2026 — rejected any suggestion he would resign.

“The facts are Commissioner Lara has moved quickly and decisively to respond to the fires, including using every tool available to ensure wildfire survivors receive all the benefits they are entitled to under current law,” said Michael Soller, the department’s deputy commissioner of communications.

On Saturday, Lara had posted on X, “I’m here to finish the job — and leave the next Commissioner in a stronger position than I inherited.”

To advance its goals, the Eaton network established a website — lararesign.org — where fire victims and others can send emails to the governor and Lara asking for the commissioner’s resignation and leaving comments.

Much of the anger from fire victims has been directed at State Farm General, California’s largest home insurer, which dropped tens of thousands of policyholders in recent years and has been the target of complaints about its claims handling.

Spivack, who said her home on Aderno Way has been insured by State Farm for decades, said that it has been a full-time job getting her personal property claims paid amid changing adjusters and other issues.

Meanwhile, she has been haggling with the insurer for months after getting an estimate of only $250 a square foot to rebuild her home, less than a third of the going rate.

“At first we thought, thank goodness we have insurance. We’ve been loyal State Farm customers for 25 years,” Spivack said. “We trusted their promise to help us rebuild like a good neighbor. But what we faced instead is confusion, lowball estimates and a delay at every turn.”

Altadena resident Branislav Kecman, 64, who lost his Crescent Drive home of 12 years in the fire, said he was dropped by State Farm in July 2024 and forced onto the FAIR Plan where his coverage dropped from $1.5 million to $1 million but got more expensive.

“We really feel betrayed by our system, especially our commissioner that’s supposed to fight for our interest instead of, so to speak, being in bed with the insurance companies,” he said.

Bob Devereux, a State Farm spokesperson, said the insurer has handled more than 13,500 claims and paid almost $5 billion to January wildfire victims, with nearly 200 claim adjusters still on the ground.

“State Farm is committed to paying customers what they’re owed. We’re here every step of the way and working with elected officials to build a more sustainable insurance market in California,” he said.

Chen and Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, also accused Lara of exacerbating the state’s insurance crisis through loopholes in his Sustainable Insurance Strategy, which was backed by the governor.

The regulatory changes gave insurers concessions, including the right to charge homeowners for reinsurance, in exchange for a pledge to write more policies in fire-prone neighborhoods.

However, since the deal was announced in 2023 insurers have dropped hundreds of thousands of homeowners onto the FAIR Plan’s rolls, as The Times has reported.

Soller said the department is currently reviewing rate filings submitted by five insurers that will commit the companies “to stay and grow” in the state, and it expects more to enter the market.

Chen advocated for a new insurance commissioner to adopt a five-point plan developed by the Eaton group to improve the insurance market and oversight of insurers.

That plan includes finishing an investigation into State Farm’s claims practices started this year by the department within 60 days — and freezing any rate hikes for the insurer until the claims issues are resolved. (Lara’s stance has been that the two issues are legally separate matters.)

Other elements of the plan include ending denials by the FAIR Plan of smoke damage claims — another issue the department is investigating — and preventing “illegal cuts’’ in temporary housing benefits while survivors rebuild.

Soller said the department is already working on the various matters raised.