US Government Shutdown Continues to Disrupt Air Travel
The US government shutdown, also known as a "shutdown," is causing significant disruptions to air travel, resulting in delays, schedule changes, and a wave of flight cancellations. According to flight tracking website FlightAware, over 1,400 flights were canceled on Sunday, causing major disruptions for thousands of passengers who were forced to modify their travel plans or endure long wait times at airports. This situation follows the US government's announcement of a gradual 10% reduction in air traffic at 40 of the country's busiest airports, a measure aimed at alleviating the workload of air traffic controllers who have been working without pay since the start of the "shutdown." Airlines began implementing this measure on Friday, following instructions from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with an initial reduction of 4% that will gradually increase by 2% per day until reaching 10%. "Air travel is going to be reduced dramatically as everyone wants to travel to see their family" for the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November, warned Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in an interview on Fox News on Sunday. "You're going to see fewer air traffic controllers coming to work, which means there will only be a handful of flights taking off and landing," he added. Some US airlines have specified that their reductions will primarily target regional flights and frequent connections that do not link to hub airports, which could disproportionately affect small airports that rely heavily on domestic and regional flights. These disruptions add to the long lines at airport security checkpoints, where unpaid security agents have continued to work for over a month. Due to the lack of a political agreement in Congress, the US has been in a state of budget paralysis since October 1, the longest "shutdown" in the country's history. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees, including air traffic controllers, are working without pay.
