The Des Moines International Airport has seen little effect from the FAA decision last Friday to reduce air traffic up to 10% at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports as the federal government shutdown continued, CEO Brian Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy said Des Moines International Airport has seen between three and five flights canceled a day since last Friday. Airlines have done a good job of notifying travelers in advance and have been able to rebook travelers on other flights, he said.

The reduction was ordered as airports across the country continue to struggle with air traffic controller shortages, an ongoing issue worsened by the shutdown, which caused controllers to work without pay, with some calling out citing increased stress and exhaustion.

According to statistics posted on the airport’s website, passenger traffic is up 2.5% so far this year compared to the same period in 2024, with nearly 2.4 million passengers passing through the airport gates as of September, the most recent data available.

Those same statistics however, show a sharp decline in the amount of cargo coming through the airport.

Through September, the airport has seen a 42.5% decline in the weight of cargo in pounds coming through the airport.

The majority of that decrease is the result of the U.S. Postal Service’s decision in April 2024 to stop air delivery to Des Moines, ending its contract with FedEx for Des Moines service. That was part of the agency’s cost-cutting strategy to divert more delivery to ground.

What used to be flown into Des Moines is now flown to Omaha and then delivered by truck to Des Moines.

“That’s the majority of the decrease we have seen in cargo,” Mulcahy said.

FedEx and UPS are the cargo airlines serving Des Moines. Amazon had begun service through third-party in 2021 but has since ended that contract.

The decrease in cargo also is a continuation of the decline that has happened after the boom in cargo traffic during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic and air shipments increased as a result of more people shopping from home and companies shipping more materials and products by air.

As of September, more than 24.6 million pounds of cargo has come through the airport so far this year, down from about 42.8 million pounds through the same period in 2024.

Mulcahy said the decrease in cargo won’t have an effect on the airport’s budget.

The airport charges airlines — both cargo and commercial — a landing fee and an apron fee that is based on weight and that fee is adjusted up or down to ensure the airport meets the FAA requirement to break even on its landing field operations, Mulcahy said.

“The lower the landing weights the higher the landing fee because the FAA expects us as an airport to break even on the airfield, so we divide all the airfield costs by the landed weight of both commercial passenger and cargo aircraft,” he said. “Each year, in our budgeting process we’re setting that fee to essentially try to break even on the airfield. So, as a result of the lower landing weights from cargo, the cargo apron fee has increased.”

The airfield consists of the apron, taxiways and runways.

There are separate funds in the budget for revenue derived from parking and concessions that help support the overall airport operation, Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy said he doesn’t see the trend of lower cargo weights turning around anytime soon.

“It comes down to what needs to come in and go out quickly, so things like perishable items like seafood, flowers, prescriptions, those sort of things that have a shelf life and that need to come in by air,” he said. “Unless that is growing for some reason it’s going to be pretty difficult to grow our air cargo in Des Moines. It comes down to having a manufacturer here that is creating something that has to be sent out by air or a demand to come in by air, and we haven’t seen significant increase in that demand, either incoming or outgoing in recent years.”