US airlines have been canceling and delaying thousands of flights to reduce air traffic amid shortages in air controller staffing.
The flight cancelations follow an order from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the government shutdown continues with no end in sight.
Flights Canceled
By Saturday evening, the number of canceled weekend flights reached 2,500, according to the Associated Press (AP). Although the slowdown at many of the US’ busiest airports did not cause widespread disruptions, it has deepened the impact felt by the country’s longest federal shutdown.
According to tracking website FlightAware, number of canceled flights jumped from 1,000 on Friday to over 1,500 on Saturday. By evening, additional 1,000 flights were canceled for Sunday.
US airlines are reducing the number of flights across dozens of major airports, including in Georgia, Boston, Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Other airports in metropolitan centers will also be impacted, such as New York, Houston, Chicago and Washington.
Cancelation Causes
Due to the government shutdown, air traffic controllers and federal security screeners have missed their paychecks for almost a month, prompting them to not show up to work and further exacerbating the staffing shortage problem.
The FAA issued an emergency order on Thursday for airlines to cut traffic by 4% at 40 targeted airports. Airlines will be required to increase cuts to 6% on Tuesday, before reaching 10% on Friday if the shutdown dragged on.
With regards to this, the US Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, warned that cuts could rise to 15-20% if the shutdown did not end “relatively soon.”
Flight cuts include major US airlines, such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, according to CNN.
Potential Impact
The impact of flight cancellation could extend far beyond air travel. Flight disruptions could increase shipping costs, leading to higher prices in stores as around half of US freight is shipped through passenger aircraft.
Moreover, continued slowdown will affect the economy, from tourism to manufacturing, according to the CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, Greg Raiff. “This shutdown is going to impact everything from cargo aircraft to people getting to business meetings to tourists being able to travel. It’s going to hit the hotel taxes and city taxes. There’s a cascading effect that results from this thing,” Raiff said.
US Government Shutdown
The government shutdown in the US entered its 40th day on Sunday – the longest on record – as senators struggle to end the budget standoff between the Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
The shutdown means that many of the government services are suspended on a temporary basis, leaving about 1.4 million federal employees unpaid or working without pay.
Under the US system, the Congress must approve a spending plan to be signed into law by the President. However, the Republicans and the Democrats failed to agree on a funding bill for government services before the previous federal budget expired on October 1.
