Amid the ongoing government shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is moving to prohibit private jets from operating at a dozen major airports in the country.
Monday’s announcement from the agency comes amid growing restrictions on commercial airlines as airports across the country experience surging shortages of air traffic controllers.
Last week, The Dallas Express reported that the FAA announced plans to reduce air traffic capacity by around 10% at 40 major U.S. airports, including Dallas-Fort Worth International and Dallas Love Field.
“Last week, restrictions were announced on all aviation operations, including general aviation operations, at 40 U.S. airports,” National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen said in a November 9 statement. “Today, further restrictions were announced that will effectively prohibit business aviation operations at 12 of those airports, disproportionately impacting general aviation, an industry that creates more than a million jobs, generates $340 billion in economic impact and supports humanitarian flights every day.”
Over the weekend, more than 4,500 commercial flights were cancelled, and another 17,000 were delayed, as staffing shortages continued to plague air travel. The weekend prior, the country experienced over 10,000 delays and more than 400 cancellations.
“Safety is the cornerstone of business aviation, and NBAA is fully committed to ensuring the safety of the NAS,” said Bolen. “Among the ways we will do that is to ensure business aviation operators have an understanding of these restrictions and their implications.”
Dallas-Fort Worth International was also included in the latest restriction announcement.
Bolen said the current conditions highlight the need to reopen the government.
“NBAA stands with the rest of the aviation community in calling upon Congress to end the shutdown immediately, and for the NOTAMs to be repealed when the government reopens,” he said.