Brian Bedford

The airlines, airports, TSA, FAA especially, for us this week is our Super Bowl.

The Federal Aviation Administration says this could be the busiest Thanksgiving in 15 years.

And FAA Administrator Brian Bedford says the aviation system is ready for the challenge.

But there are indications that Thanksgiving air travel could be down this year, perhaps because of travelers who made other plans during the government shutdown.

Advanced bookings were down about 4 percent compared to last year, according to data from the aviation analytics company Sirium.

Still, the number of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving is expected to set records, according to AAA, with the vast majority, about 73 million, traveling by car.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.

We're past the lapse.

Controllers are back at work.

They're excited to be back on the job.

They're excited to be compensated to be back on the job.

So we're all thrilled that we're happy to tell you we've got a great plan.

We have decided that a 10% reduction in scheduled capacity would be appropriate to, again, continue to take the pressure off of our controllers and as we continue to see staffing triggers, there will be additional measures that will be taken in those specific markets.

The FAA is planning to reduce air traffic in 40 high-volume markets beginning on Friday.

FAA Administrator Brian Bedford says the agency wants to reduce the pressure at those airports before safety is compromised.

The FAA has already been delaying flights at some airports because of staffing shortages among air traffic controllers.

Those controllers are required to work without pay during the shutdown, but some have taken on second jobs and many are calling out sick.

Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy say they'll meet with airline leaders to figure out how to implement the reductions fairly before announcing the details.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.

We have decided that a 10 percent reduction in scheduled capacity would be appropriate to