BATON ROUGE - Across the nation, passengers are experiencing travel issues as airports are cutting more flights in accordance with an order last week from the Federal Aviation Administration.

While the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport is not one of the facilities ordered to cut flights by the FAA, some travelers said they are having to change their travel plans.

"I know there's a government shutdown, so I knew it was a possibility that it could happen, but I didn't know that it would happen to me. You know how you do that, 'It's not going to happen to me,' that's what I was thinking," Erika Robertson, a passenger on a delayed flight, told WBRZ on Monday.

Robertson said she flew into Baton Rouge to celebrate her grandchild's first birthday. Now, she needs to get back to work, and said her flight to Houston saw repeated delays on Monday.

"I'm upset, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to do what I can and that's try get a rental car and try to get myself there safe," she said.

Others said the cuts in flights were beneficial.

"All my flights were actually early, got us there quicker, and going through TSA was a breeze," Mason Rawls, a traveler, said.

The FAA ordered airlines to cut flights last week, starting with 4-percent on Friday, Nov. 7, and getting up to 10-percent Friday, Nov. 14. 

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the Senate took a series of votes on Monday in an effort to end the government shutdown.

"It's been 40 days too long to reopening," U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy told WBRZ in a video call interview.

Cassidy said there are bills being proposed that would allow for airport personnel to be paid should there be another government shutdown.

"I thank those air traffic controllers and TSA agents who stayed on the job, despite not getting paid, and I'm thankful for that, but they're about to get paid once more, and they'll get their back pay," Cassidy said. "Republicans have sponsored a bill which would say if there's another government shutdown, people employed in those areas would continue to get paid, despite the government shutdown."

For passengers on Monday, they said they are keeping the government shutdown in mind while making travel plans.

"Real concerned about that, with the shutdown going on and everything like that, but you kind of just put your faith in God and just travel," Henry Thomas, a traveler flying into Baton Rouge to see his grandson play basketball, said.

The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport said it is seeing an average of one to two flight cancellations per day, attributing the cancellations to both required flight reductions and air traffic control callouts at major hub airports. Assistant Director of Aviation Louis Hubbard said BTR's TSA and ATC staff have reported to work and said operations at the airport were running smoothly.

BTR also reminds travelers to check with their airlines for up-to-date information regarding travel plans and flight schedules.