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A wave of flight cancellations swept across US airports on Friday as federal aviation regulators cut journeys at dozens of large airports during the longest government shutdown on record.
By 1.30pm eastern standard time, 856 flights within, into or out of the US had been cancelled, according to tracking website FlightAware. That is more than quadruple the number of cancellations on any of the previous three days.
The jump follows regulators’ decision to restrict capacity at 40 “high traffic” airports from November 7 to ease air traffic controllers’ workload, which has been exacerbated by the government shutdown that is in its fifth week.
The cuts mark the first widespread disruption for airlines as a result of the shutdown. Cancellations are expected to increase in the coming days.
The Federal Aviation Administration and transportation department confirmed on Thursday that flight reductions would begin at 4 per cent on Friday and ultimately rise to 10 per cent by November 14.
American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said on CNBC on Friday: “As this problem grows and as cancellations grow, there’s not a lot of slack in the system, and managing the airline, managing the industry, becomes exponentially harder as you increase the level of cancellations.”
American, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines — the three biggest carriers in the US — on Thursday announced they would scrap almost 600 trips collectively on November 7 in response to the directive.
The cuts will focus on regional flights over international routes, according to airlines and the FAA, with the goal of reducing volume to help controllers maintain the safety of US airspace.
Isom said the situation was “frustrating”, and it was necessary to reopen the government ahead of the busy holiday period that begins around Thanksgiving. Bookings for the period had already been affected, he said.
More than 3.5mn passengers have experienced flight delays or cancellations related to air traffic controller staffing issues since the shutdown began in early October, according to Airlines for America, a lobby group.
With a record 31mn passengers expected to fly from November 21 to December 1, A4A said: “We implore Congress to act with extreme urgency to get the federal government reopened, get federal workers paid and get our airspace back to normal operations.”
Controllers and other furloughed federal workers are on the cusp of going a full month without pay. Transportation secretary Sean Duffy has said the lack of pay has resulted in some controllers skipping work in favour of drawing income from “side jobs” to meet household financial obligations.
The White House seized on the FAA restrictions to cast blame for the shutdown on Democrats.
“Now, as FAA safety restrictions loom like a guillotine over holiday flights, Democrats are inflicting their man-made catastrophe on Americans just trying to make life-saving medical trips or get home for Thanksgiving,” the White House said.
The Senate plans to vote again on Friday on a House of Representatives-passed measure to temporarily fund the government, but it is not expected to pass the upper chamber.
National Economic Council head Kevin Hassett on Friday highlighted the adverse impact of air travel being restricted for an extended period on the broader economy.
“Business travel is a really big, important part of air travel and if business travel isn’t happening then those are deals that aren’t being cut and hotel rooms that aren’t being filled,” he said on Fox Business on Friday.
“Travel and leisure is a place that’s really being heavily hit right now and if it continues to get hit, if the air travel thing goes south for another week or two, then you could say that they would have at least a near-term downturn,” Hassett added.
