getty imagesMore than 1,000 flights to, from, and within the United States were canceled Saturday after airlines were told to reduce traffic due to this week’s federal government shutdown.
About 4,000 flights were delayed on Friday, down from more than 7,000 on Friday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced earlier this week that it would reduce air travel capacity at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports by up to 10% due to reports of fatigue among air traffic controllers working without pay during the shutdown.
As the congressional shutdown that began Oct. 1 continues, Republicans and Democrats remain divided over how to end the deadlock in Congress.
Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey had the longest wait times. According to the FAA, as of Saturday afternoon, airport arrivals were delayed by an average of more than four hours, and airport departures were delayed by an average of one hour and 30 minutes.
The airports with the most canceled flights to and from the region on Saturday were Charlotte/Douglas International, Newark Liberty International and Chicago O’Hare International, according to FlightAware.
As of Saturday afternoon, the FAA reported departures from John F. Kennedy International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and LaGuardia Airport were delayed by about three hours, more than two and a half hours and about an hour, respectively.
The Thanksgiving holiday approaches on November 27th and is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year in the United States.
It’s not just commercial flights that have been affected. Duffy posted to X on Saturday that restrictions on private jets were also being implemented.
“We have reduced the volume of flights at high-traffic airports,” Duffy said. “Instead, we have allowed private jets to utilize smaller airports or airfields, allowing busy air traffic controllers to focus on commercial aviation.” “That’s only fair.”
And the situation is likely to get worse in the coming days as the FAA increases the rate of canceled flights.
On Thursday, the airline announced that the flight reduction would start at 4% on Friday and gradually decrease to 6% by Nov. 11, 8% by Nov. 13 and a full 10% by Nov. 14.
The FAA said the cuts were necessary to maintain safety because air traffic controllers were overworked during the shutdown.
As essential workers, controllers must continue to work without pay, and as a result, many have taken sick days or started second jobs to pay for necessities, the union says.
The controllers are just a few of the 1.4 million federal employees who have worked without pay or been forced to work during the shutdown.
Saturday marked 39 days of the longest shutdown in history as Republicans and Democrats still failed to agree on a funding resolution to reopen the government.
Senators are in Washington over the weekend for bipartisan negotiations to end the shutdown.
Another factor affecting air travel is that most of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) 64,000 employees have not been paid during the shutdown.
In 2018, during the government shutdown under President Donald Trump, up to 10% of TSA employees chose to stay home instead of working for free.
