There were more than 1,000 flights delayed or canceled On Saturday, airports across the US followed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) decision. reduce flight capability Amid staff shortage due to government shutdown.
According to the flight-tracking website, a total of 1,093 flights were delayed, while 805 flights were cancelled. flight AwareThese figures do not distinguish between FAA outages and figures caused by routine maintenance or weather delays.
According to the administration, fewer flights will be curtailed on Saturday compared to Friday due to lower overall volumes. For example, United Airlines will cancel 168 flights, compared with 184 on Friday. Southwest Airlines expects to reduce flights to less than 100, down from about 120 on Friday, according to the airline.
New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) saw an all-time high of 40 delays and 10 cancellations as of Saturday morning. Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) ranked second with 32 delays and 11 cancellations. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) Airport was next with only four delays but 16 cancellations.
JFK and ATL are among 40 airports Impacted by the FAA directive, air traffic controller staffing has seen a significant reduction, the new York Times Informed.
There is a possibility of cancellation of flights of all commercial airlines increase deduction That follows Friday’s 4 percent cut. Nov. 11, Veterans Day, will see the deduction increase to 6 percent, followed by 8 percent through Nov. 13 and 10 percent through Nov. 14.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on friday If the shutdown – now in its 39th day – prolongs, airports could see flight reductions of up to 20 percent.
Of the major airlines, Southwest saw the most delays and cancellations as of Saturday morning. About 11 percent or 383 flights were delayed while 104 flights were cancelled.
United canceled 62 flights and delayed 73. American Airlines had 94 delays and 41 cancellations, followed by Delta Airlines with 61 delays and 39 cancellations.
However, American said it would fulfill most of its flight schedule. Despite the FAA’s request, the airline said in a statement That it is “avoiding cancellations of long-haul international flights and reducing cancellations on hub-to-hub routes.”
“A travel alert has been issued that gives customers additional flexibility and can request a refund without any penalties if they are traveling during the impact period,” officials said.
American said earlier this week it expected to cancel 220 flights per day. Among other airlines, United said it would cancel less than 200 flights, Delta Air Lines will reduce 170 flights and Southwest plans to reduce about 120 flights per day.
Airlines should follow the guidelines of the Transport Department refund passengers If they are at the airport and cannot reschedule their travel. However, individual passengers are not entitled to compensation from airline companies.
Friday saw a total of 1,524 cancellations and 24,363 delays, according to FlightAware.
The flight cuts are aimed at reducing staffing and improving security at the country’s airports Increase in call-outs According to FAA Administrator Brian Bedford, the furloughs among air traffic controllers — who worked without pay during the shutdown, including mandatory overtime — will continue.
“While the early indicators are telling us that we can take action today to stop things from getting worse, we are not going to wait for a security problem to materialize,” Bedford said during a press conference earlier this week.
If the shutdown does not end by Nov. 11, Duffy warned Tuesday that the country’s air travel system “will see massive chaos” and as a result closure of some airspace areas “Because we can’t manage it, because we don’t have air traffic controllers.”
“With this shutdown, it would be dishonest to say there won’t be more risk coming into the system. There is more risk into the system,” the transportation chief said.
Duffy tagged in one Additional warning on ThursdayAdding that if the shutdown continues beyond Thanksgiving, “it’s going to be tough” for anyone planning to travel by flight.
