Air travelers should expect this Cancellations increase And the delay this week even if Government shutdown The order is ending, with the Federal Aviation Administration moving forward with deeper flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports, officials said Monday.
The fourth day of Flight restrictions Airlines saw more than 2,100 flights canceled on Monday after canceling 5,500 flights from Friday to Sunday. Some air traffic controllers – who have not been paid for more than a month – have stopped attending, due to the added pressure and the need to take on second jobs.
president Donald Trump They pressured moderators on Monday on social media to “Back to work now!!!” He said he wants a $10,000 bonus for superintendents who stay on the job and a pay cut for those who don’t stay on the job.
The head of the supervisors’ union said they were being used as a “political pawn” in the battle over the closure.
Lack of control combined with Winter weather That led to four-hour delays at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Monday, with the Federal Aviation Administration warning that staffing at more than a dozen towers and control centers could cause disruptions in cities including Philadelphia, Nashville and Atlanta.
On Monday, the Senate was close to voting on termination close Although it will still need to clear the council, and final passage could take days. Transport Minister Sean Duffy Explain Last week, flight reductions will continue until the FAA sees improvement in safety metrics.
Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights in compliance with an order to drop 4% of flights 40 of the busiest airports in the country. The FAA says that will rise to 6% on Tuesday and 10% by the end of the week.
Already, travelers are angry.
“All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and is 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” said Todd Walker, whose flight from San Francisco to Washington state was canceled over the weekend, causing him to miss his mother’s 80th birthday party.
One in 10 flights nationwide was canceled on Sunday, the fourth-worst day for cancellations in nearly two years, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expanded flight restrictions Monday, barring business jets and many private flights from using dozens of airports already subject to commercial flight limits.
Airports across the country have seen intermittent delays since the shutdown began because the Federal Aviation Administration slows air traffic when there is a shortage of controllers to ensure flights remain safe.
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the shutdown has made air traffic controllers’ jobs more stressful, leading to burnout and increased risks.
“This is an erosion of the margin of safety that the aviation public never sees, but America depends on every day,” the union president said at a news conference on Monday.
Some monitors can’t afford child care so they can come to work while others work as delivery drivers or even sell plasma to pay their bills, Daniels said. He said that the number of those retiring or resigning is “increasing day by day.”
Over the six weekends since the shutdown began, an average of 30 air traffic control facilities have experienced staffing issues. That’s nearly four times the number on weekends this year before the shutdown, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans sent through the air traffic control system’s command center system.
Tuesday will be the second lost pay day for controllers and other FAA employees. It’s unclear how quickly they can get paid once the shutdown ends, as it took more than two months to get a full paycheck in 2019, Daniels said.
Worries about the shutdown and financial concerns have become regular “dinner conversations” for Amy Lark and her husband, both air traffic controllers in the Washington, D.C., area.
“Yesterday, my kids asked me how long we could stay at our house,” Lark said. However, she said observers were still “100% committed.”
The government has struggled for years with a shortage of controllers, and Duffy said the shutdown exacerbated the problem. Before the shutdown, the transportation secretary was working to hire more monitors, speed up training and offer retention bonuses.
Duffy warned over the weekend that if the shutdown continues, air travel could be “significantly diminished” by Thanksgiving week.
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Yamat reported from Las Vegas and Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Ken Sweet, Grantham Phillips and Michael R. Smith contributed to this report. Sisak in New York, Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking in Washington, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
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