The 40 airports selected by the FAA span more than two dozen states and include major hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the order. In some metropolitan areas—including New York, Houston, Chicago, and Washington—multiple airports will be impacted, while the ripple effects could also reach smaller airports.
Airlines scrambled to adjust their schedules and began canceling flights on Thursday in anticipation of the FAA’s official order. Travelers with plans for the weekend and beyond waited nervously to learn if their flights would take off as scheduled. More than 810 flights have been called off nationwide, according to FlightAware.
Delta Air Lines announced it would cancel roughly 170 flights on Friday, and American Airlines planned to cut 220 flights a day through Monday. The FAA stated that the reductions would start at 4% and ramp up to 10% by November 14. These cutbacks are scheduled to be in effect between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily and will impact all commercial airlines.
The agency said these reductions are necessary to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay for more than a month. Many controllers are pulling six-day workweeks with mandatory overtime, and increasing numbers have begun calling out as financial strain and exhaustion mount.
“You can’t expect people to go into work when they’re not getting a paycheck,” said Kelly Matthews of Flat Rock, Michigan, a frequent business traveler who has canceled most of her upcoming trips. “I mean, it’s not a matter of them not wanting to do the job, but you can’t afford to pay for gas, your daycare, and everything else.”
This FAA order comes as the Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Democrats in Congress to end the government shutdown. Meanwhile, airlines said they would try to minimize the impact on customers. Some carriers plan to focus on slashing routes to and from small and medium-size cities.
According to the Department of Transportation, carriers are required to refund customers whose flights are canceled but are not obligated to cover secondary costs such as food and hotel accommodations unless a delay or cancellation results from a factor within the airlines’ control.
Industry analyst Henry Harteveldt warned that the reductions will “have a noticeable impact across the U.S. air transportation system.”
The cuts could also slow package service, as two airports on the list are major distribution centers for delivery companies: FedEx in Memphis, Tennessee, and UPS in Louisville, Kentucky—the site of this week’s deadly cargo plane crash.
https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/the-faas-order-to-cut-flights-nationwide-due-to-the-government-shutdown-is-set-to-take-effect/