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MSP Airport cancellations continue as Congress inches toward end to shutdown

As Congress moves closer to ending the longest government shutdown in history, the impacts are still being felt — especially at the airport.

Over the weekend, more than 100 flights were cancelled at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Monday, there were 58 canceled flights and four delays.

"I'm flying from Fargo back here and then we got a flight back to Jacksonville, and Jacksonville is a smaller airport, so I'm a little bit concerned about that. And having multiple flights, that's what I'm concerned about," Seth Ricketts, who flew into MSP from Florida over the weekend, said.

MSP is one of 40 airports still under Federal Aviation Administration orders to cut air traffic by 10%. Air traffic controllers are working without pay because of the government shutdown. 

"First and foremost, the system is safe, right? People need to understand that the vast majority, if not 98% of air traffic controllers are going to work, evidenced by we're still having thousands of flights move in the system every day," Drew MacQueen with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said.

These reductions are happening weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, when AAA predicts 2.4 million Americans plan to fly. 

Cuts started on Friday and the FAA says they're expected to reach the full 10% mark by this week. 

Travelers are urged to contact their airline for the most recent flight updates. 

Eight Democrats joined Senate Republicans late Sunday night in voting to advance a House-passed short-term funding measure, the first step in weeks toward ending the government shutdown. 

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