The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to cut domestic flights at 40 major United States airports while the federal shutdown continues, and all three New York airports are on the list: JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. The cuts began on Saturday 7 November 2026 at 4 percent, stepping up in stages to 10 percent on Saturday 14 November. International flights are exempt.
There is no end date. The order stays in place while the shutdown continues, and the higher steps happen only if it does. Arrive on a domestic flight and your flight is in the pool the cuts are drawn from. Fly in from abroad and your flight is exempt, though you land at airports working through the knock-on effects. This post sets out the schedule and the ride in.
What is happening
The FAA announced the emergency order on 5 November 2026. The cuts rose from 4 percent on 7 November to 6 percent today, Wednesday 11 November, and they rise again to 8 percent on Friday 13 November and 10 percent on Saturday 14 November, each step conditional on the shutdown continuing. The order sets no end date.
New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark are all on the list. LaGuardia is domestic only, so every flight there sits inside the order. At JFK and Newark the cuts fall on domestic services; international flights are exempt, which covers most long haul arrivals.
The order does not name individual flights. Airlines choose which of their domestic flights to cut inside the percentages, so no one can say today whether a specific flight survives. The working plan: check your flight status before you leave for the airport, keep the airline app on your phone, and if your flight is cut, take the rebooking the airline offers. Build slack into anything booked tight against a domestic arrival.
The same order covers Florida: the companion post on the FAA flight cuts at Miami and Fort Lauderdale sets out the picture there. At JFK there is a second wrinkle this week: the A train closure in Queens runs to 16 November and changes the cheapest ride in.
Getting there after you land
The cuts are in the air, not on the ground: every airport ride in this guide runs as normal, at the usual prices. From JFK, the AirTrain links every terminal to the subway at Jamaica or Howard Beach; from Newark, NJ Transit trains run to Penn Station. The three rides that cover most arrivals:
AirTrain and subway from JFKCheapest
AirTrain to Jamaica for the E train to Midtown, or to Howard Beach for the A train to Lower Manhattan. The subway runs 24 hours a day.
NJ Transit from Newark
The fastest ride from Newark, into Penn Station.
Taxi, flat rate from JFK
One flat price from the official rank at any terminal to any Manhattan address. Tolls and tip go on top.
Every option, priced and compared, sits in our JFK to Manhattan transfer guide. A shared shuttle runs at $35 a person and takes about 60 minutes; a pre-booked transfer is fixed when you book, whatever the flight does. After midnight the subway still runs, so the cheapest route is also the all night route.
The full first hour: New York City guide
The ride in, the first ticket, the first meal and the traps to skip, priced and checked.
Where to stay, and getting back
The Splurge pick is The Plaza, the grande dame at Central Park corner on Fifth Avenue. The Sweet spot pick is Arlo SoHo, on Hudson Street downtown, compact smart rooms and a rooftop bar. The Budget pick is HI New York City Hostel, a historic Gothic building on Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side, the best value in Manhattan. The airport shapes the choice: Midtown puts the E train from Jamaica on your side, and Lower Manhattan suits the A train from Howard Beach.
Getting back out carries the same warning: while the order runs, a cut flight can mean a long wait for the next seat, so leave for the airport earlier than usual. If your departure falls on a step up date, 13 or 14 November, check the flight before you check out.
The first hour, sorted
Sort the ticket first: tap a contactless card, phone or watch at the OMNY reader, $2.90 a ride, and after 12 paid rides in a 7 day window the rest are free. Cards work almost everywhere, including the subway; keep $20 to $40 in small bills for food carts, bodegas and tips.
Get connected on landing. The guide eSIM pick is Airalo, online as the plane taxis in, which is how you watch your flight status on a disruption day. Then eat something New York: a pizza slice or a bagel with lox from a corner deli. And book Empire State Building and 9/11 Museum tickets before you fly; the guide is blunt that it is the difference between walking in and queuing for two hours.
The cuts end when the shutdown ends, and nobody has published that date. Until then: check, buffer and land flexible. Browse the events calendar for what else is on in New York, and use plan your trip to line up the rest.
Central Park, Times Square and the fall color: what you landed for.
Get the New York City first hour checklist by email
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, in the New York City guide PDF you can read on the plane.
The checklist, free, from After You Land.
What else is on
The events calendar tracks every guided city, strikes and stoppages included.
Events calendarLine up the rest
Plan your trip pulls the guide, the stays and the bookings for this trip into one place.
Plan your trip