Flight cancellations and long delays continued across the United States this week as the government shutdown entered another day, leaving travelers stranded and airlines scrambling to manage reduced schedules.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) staffing shortages have rippled through airports nationwide, slowing operations and forcing carriers to trim flights ahead of the busy Thanksgiving season.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the FAA recently slashed 10% of flights at 40 airports across the country as part of emergency cost-cutting measures during the shutdown.
As a result, thousands of flights have been cancelled or delayed to account for the lack of staff.
These issues included over 4,500 cancellations over the weekend and another 17,000 delays, with the weekend prior posting similar numbers as the FAA scrambles to account for as many flights as possible, as reported by DX.
These cancellations continued into Wednesday morning, with 850 flights being canceled early Wednesday and another 404 flights being delayed due to the staffing shortage, according to ABC News.
The good news for air travel workers and flyers is that the government shutdown appears to be coming to an end. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that air travel disruptions will not immediately end as employees return to work.
Duffy said there have been some “very rough travel days” over the past few weeks with “significant cancellations and significant delays,” noting that there is still more work to be done to improve upon these numbers.
“However, today has been a much better day. A lot more air traffic controllers are coming in. On Saturday, we had 81 staffing triggers. Today, we have four. So I think our air traffic controllers are seeing an end to the shutdown and feel more hopeful,” Duffy added, per ABC News.
Duffy said air traffic workers could expect to receive roughly 70% of their paychecks within 48 hours after the government reopens, which should help mitigate the issues once the shutdown comes to an end.
However, Duffy put pressure on the U.S. House of Representatives to officially end the shutdown, stating that air travel would “radically slow down” and there would be “massive disruptions” if a deal is not passed.
“So the House has to do its work. And by the way, I am very hopeful. It seems like they’re in a good mood to come in and vote to open the government,” he said, per ABC News.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the U.S. Senate approved a funding bill to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, sending it to the House for final consideration.
Despite the optimism following the Senate vote, many airlines have already warned travelers that the issues will not be solved immediately after the resolution is passed, writing in a statement that airlines “cannot immediately bounce back to full capacity right after the government reopens.”
“It will take time, and there will be residual effects for days. With the Thanksgiving travel period beginning next week and the busy shipping season around the corner, the time to act is now to help mitigate any further impacts to Americans,” wrote Airlines for America, a lobbying group for many of the largest U.S. airlines, as reported by CNBC.
Currently, there is no set timeline for either the reopening of the U.S. government or the eventual improvement of flight cancellations and delays.