The World's Most Magical Airport on Earth? The Effect of Mandated Flight Reductions at Orlando International Airport

The November 2025 government shutdown and associated FAA emergency schedule-reduction order created a shock to U.S. air traffic operations all around the United States, affecting tens of thousands of passengers traveling to and from Orlando. In this paper, I analyze Orlando International Airport (MCO) as a non-hub, high-density case study to examine how that national policy translated into day-to-day cancellations, capacity loss, and route-level disruption. Leveraging the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority's data, as well as aircraft and seat information, I construct a detailed panel of canceled flights. Between November 6–17, 2025, MCO recorded 449 cancellations—3.5% of scheduled flights—with rates fluctuating in line with the government shutdown. Cancellations were concentrated among major carriers, with Southwest absorbing the largest seat and flight losses, while legacy carriers distributed reductions more flexibly. Evaluating routes involving Newark (EWR) show that disruptions stemmed from regional ATC strain rather than airline-specific behavior. The results demonstrate how nationwide ATC constraints imposed by the recent government shutdown propagate unevenly across networks and highlight the value of high-frequency airport-level data in assessing federal interventions.