Passengers and airlines serving Maui County and other parts of the Hawaiian Islands are scrambling to change their schedules to comply with a federal order to reduce flights to Hawaii by 10% by Nov. 14.

The initial order to reduce the number of flights by 4% began Friday with Hawaiian Airlines canceling six flights into or out of the Kahului Airport. Another flight on Southwest Airlines into and out of Maui today was also canceled, according to FlightAware.com.

The flights of Southwest and Hawaiian on Friday and Saturday had a capacity to hold up to more than 900 passengers. Assuming the shutdown continues, the cuts are expected to increase to 6% by Tuesday, 8% by Thursday and 10% by next Friday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has ordered airlines to cut flights at 40 high-volume airports including Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu to address safety concerns caused by staffing shortages.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said these are “proactive” measures to alleviate pressure on controllers who are working without pay.

Major commercial airlines that land at Kahului Airport include Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest, United, American, Alaska and Delta. Other carriers like Air Canada, Mokulele Airlines and WestJet also operate flights to and from Maui.

State transportation director Ed Sniffen has asked the Trump administration for a waiver for Hawaii, saying the lack of alternatives to air travel for commerce, healthcare, national security and the tourism economy, make it uniquely vulnerable.

In a letter to Duffy, Sniffen said the state is willing to advance the salaries and benefits for air traffic controllers and TSA security screeners in Hawaii to ensure safe staffing and no disruptions in service.

“Airlines are our lifelines and so when you talk about even a 10% reduction, that can really impact everyday life, maybe even health care access for a lot of our people, especially neighbor islands and so we take this seriously,” said U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii.

Representatives of Alaska Airlines, which acquired Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024, said they know how much residents and visitors rely on their island-to-island flights, and they promised to continue running “a robust schedule” with 20 Honolulu-Maui roundtrips and 15 Honolulu-Kona roundtrips, in addition to their regular flights to and from Lihue and Hilo.

The FAA order does not include international flights, but aviation analysts expect a ripple effect from changes to flight connections.

“As with domestic flights, the international will be affected,” said aviation analyst Bruce Mayes. “If you’re headed to London and you’re leaving Oklahoma, you’ve got to connect through one of the East Coast hubs or Chicago or something like that and so if your flight is delayed or canceled, that puts you in a bind to try to make that connection.”

The Maui economy has been struggling to recover from the 2023 wildfires and the pandemic.