SAEDNEWS: Airlines Cancel 1,200 Flights as Air Traffic Staffing Rises Ahead of Potential End to Record Government Shutdown
After airlines canceled 2,400 flights and delayed 9,600 on Monday, delays dropped to just 1,700 on Tuesday—the best performance in recent days for the industry.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instructed airlines to cut 4 percent of daily flights starting Friday, November 7, at 40 major airports due to air traffic control staffing shortages. By Tuesday, reductions had risen to 6 percent.
Flight cuts were projected to reach 8 percent on Thursday and 10 percent on Friday, November 14. Airlines and the FAA are negotiating how and when the reductions can be scaled back and eventually eliminated as a record-setting 42-day government shutdown nears its end.
On Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to dock the pay of any controller who did not return to work, and welcomed the resignations of those failing to report diligently.
Some airlines are delaying the planned 8 percent cut for Thursday. United Airlines said Tuesday that it had reduced about 5 percent of Thursday flights.
Sources told Reuters that several options are being discussed for how the FAA might end or reduce the flight cuts.
Staffing shortages improved dramatically on Tuesday, with only four issues reported compared to more than two dozen on Monday and 81 on Saturday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Speaking at Chicago O’Hare, Duffy said flight reductions would be eased as safety allowed. “When that data changes, we’re going to start taking that down from 6 percent—maybe to four, two, and back to normal air travel,” he said. “It depends on controllers returning to work.”
On Monday night, the Senate approved legislation to end the shutdown and fund the government through January 30. The House is expected to vote on it Wednesday. Duffy warned that without House approval, flight disruptions could spike this weekend, with some major airlines potentially grounding flights. “That’s how serious this is,” he said.
Since the shutdown began on October 1, tens of thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed due to controller absences. Over the weekend, 1.2 million passengers were affected.
The longest shutdown in US history has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.
The FAA is currently about 3,500 controllers short of its target, with many already working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks before the shutdown.
