The FAA’s 12-Airport ‘Private Jet Ban’ Arrived Too Late — and Targets the Wrong Airports To Have Any Effect

Right as it looks like the government shutdown will end, the Administration has placed restrictions banning non-scheduled (private) operations at 12 airports:

• Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
  
• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
  
• Denver International Airport (DEN)
  
• General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport (BOS)
  
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
  
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
  
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
  
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
  
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
  
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
  
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
  
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

There are exceptions for aircraft based at these airports, emergency/medical, law enforcement, firefighting, military, or if specifically authorized.

As commercial airlines cancel flights en masse under orders from the government, there have been huge calls to restrict private flights, too.

Friday’s FAA order did allow for a reduction in general aviation up to 10% at the same 40 identified airports when staffing triggers hit. That’s not the same thing as the proactive requirement to cut commercial flights, but it was the hook that allowed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to claim that private flights were being hit, too.

Hopefully Katie doesn’t pour hot mashed potatoes on me for correcting her but… restrictions for private jets are already in place! https://t.co/GluyIbcmq2 pic.twitter.com/xyDng7z0Dc

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 9, 2025

Appreciate the question @LelandVittert.

Restrictions for private jets are already in place! We’ve reduced their volume at high traffic airports — instead having private jets utilize smaller airports or airfields so busy controllers can focus on commercial aviation. That’s only… https://t.co/h0sNyidtBw

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 8, 2025

Many airline executives believe that the FAA’s ordered commerical flight cuts are political meant to bring pressure to end the government shutdown by making it too painful for the public to continue. And, indeed, a combination of mass chaos in the skies and getting past Tuesday’s election, has brought a deal in the Senate to kick the can down the road to February.

Others believe that focusing on private flights would have worked better (although clearly this worked) since it would focus the pain on ‘the donor class’ though I think that misunderstands what most general aviation is (it’s not jets, and where it’s corporate flights that is often teams of middle managers).

Now, instrument flight rules general aviation flights use the same towers, TRACONs, and Centers as airlines. And visual flight rule opreations must obtain a clearance and receive separation inside Class B airspace around these 12 hubs. So private operations do draw on the scarce controller bandwidth that’s binding right now.

But banning private flights at these airports only moves the needle marginally. There’s relatively little private flying at these airports! General aviation typically uses reliever airports e.g., Van Nuys for LAX, Bedford for BOS, Fulton County or DeKalb-Peachtree for Atlanta, Centenniel or Broomfield for Denver, Westchester or Teterboro for New York City though Teterboro is already on the 40‑airport cut list, so it’s already being throttled under the 10% order.

In 2024, general aviation accounted for about 16.3 million out of 38.9 million operations at federal towers which is huge, but only 6.2 million of 43.6 million en‑route Center operations (14%) and that’s a better proxy for instrument flight rules controller workload. Many general aviation tower operations are local training at non‑hub airports that aren’t what’s driving airline delays.

If you actually wanted big relief at the chokepoints, you’d have to limit unscheduled instrument flight rules operations inside the most constrained TRACONs (N90 New York, Potomac Consolidated DC, Southern California TRACON, etc.) including the relievers — not just these 12 airline hubs.

So this new policy limiting general aviation is pretty meaningless – it’s coming late, it’s focused on airports that don’t have nearly so much of the covered traffic, and it comes as calls mount for private flights to feel the pain just as it seems like the pain might end soon?