Travelers hustled along the walkways and terminals at their usual pace on Thursday morning at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Planes took off and landed on a regular schedule. Preparations were being made ahead of the looming busy travel season.

RDU isn’t expected to be one of the airports targeted by FAA cuts. However, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the traveler experience.

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Of the 40 proposed airport locations expected to see cuts, RDU serves 33 directly.

Tuesday's announcement comes as RDU is highlighting upgrades designed to keep up with the area's growth. Nineteen airlines fly out of the airport every day with more than 400 flights leaving daily.

The RDU Airport Authority said it's out of its hands as cuts are expected to start on Friday. Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump's administration said it's weighing a 4 percent cut to those flights instead of the initial planned 10 percent cut.

RDU wasn’t named on the FAA’s reduction list, so it won’t be impacted directly.

But RDU offers direct service to many of the sites on the list. In September, Delta, American and Southwest airlines accounted for more than 65 percent of the total passenger traffic in and out of the airport. All 3 are expected to make cuts at the other airports across the country.

Airport Chief Development Officer Bill Sandifer gave WRAL News a tour of improvements the airport is making to expand as the airport grows.

The airport's goal is to have a capacity for 30 million travelers by 2050.

But as focused as they are on the long-term, there’s a short-term roadblock ahead with these cuts.

And there’s really nothing they can do about it.

"We’re just going to wait and see how the airlines manage that process," Sandifer said. "I mean, there will be impacts. I don't think there's any question, right? I'm not sure I could speak to how the FAA is going to manage their air traffic. You know, we don't, we don't control that but ... I don't think it's going to be a fun day for a traveler if that happens."

Despite the headaches from this planned reduction and the unknown length of time for the government shutdown, Sandifer said this will do nothing to stop the projects they’re already working on.

The plan to have the first flights taking off from a new, longer runway at Terminal Two is still on schedule to be completed in June 2029.

If you're flying out of RDU, you can check your flight's status.