At first I thought this was a hoax, but no, it seems to be real:
The Twitter/X message, in case it's not shown automatically:
About to take off
Pilot gets on the intercom, says he got “some weird routing” due to ATC staffing issues
We’ll be flying the entire flight at 8,000ft, “four times lower than normal”
“Upside is you’ll have some great views!”
Wish me luck fam
https://www.flightaware.com/live/fli...657Z/KJFK/KORF