Is there a risk of disruptions in the delivery of holiday packages?

3:19 a.m. Planes taxi into the Terminal at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Nov. 3, 2025. Nam Y. Huh/AP

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to reduce the number of flights at dozens of the nation’s largest airports due to the government shutdown. weeks before the holiday shopping season and the surge in online orders.

Airline disruptions can lead to empty shelves and delivery delays, especially for high-value, fast-moving items that are transported frequently by plane, such as personal electronics, pharmaceuticals and even fresh lobster, experts told ABC News.

“The busiest shopping days of the year are Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, and that can really put a damper on Christmas sales,” Ed Anderson, a professor of supply chain and operations management at the University of Texas, told ABC News.

The FAA said Wednesday it would cut flights by 10% at 40 major airports, including each of the top 10 cargo airports, such as Memphis International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and JFK International Airport in New York.

Varun Gupta, a professor of logistics and business analytics at the University of North Georgia, told ABC News that about 10 percent of U.S. cargo is shipped by plane, noting that share can change during the holiday rush. Passenger flights sometimes carry cargo, which puts delivery at risk in the event of commercial airline disruptions.

Some products rely on air transport for a larger share of shipping, including electronics, medicine and legal documents, Gupta added.

“I can definitely see that there are delays,” Gupta said.

“A significant percentage of holiday shopping is done on the plane,” Rogers said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks to the media about the impact of a government shutdown on the airline industry, outside the West Wing of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Washington. Jacqueline Martin/AP, FILE

Amazon did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on possible delays. Neither did Walmart or Target.

UPS directed ABC News to a web page indicating the extension of some delivery times following the crash of a company plane in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed at least 12 people.

“Our goal is to begin getting the network back to normal,” UPS said in a statement to ABC News, but the company would not comment on possible delays related to the outage.

Some experts downplayed the impact of flight disruptions on package delivery, noting the little expected impact on motor vehicles, which carry most cargo. In addition, some experts added that a potential drop in demand could ease the bottleneck as the economy shows signs of weakness and some Americans suffer from cuts in government benefits.

Demand for air freight in North America fell 1.2 percent in September from a year earlier, despite rising demand worldwide, the International Air Transport Association said last week.

“Given that the government shutdown has reduced some benefits for people, like SNAP benefits, that also reduces purchasing power, which will affect how many packages can travel around the country,” Gupta said.

Joseph Schwieterman, a professor of public policy at De Paul University, said the coming weeks before the holidays offer retailers and transportation companies an opportunity to adapt.

“There’s a lot of reason to be optimistic about Christmas,” Schwieterman told ABC News. “It’s far away.”

Source: abcnews.go.com