Airlines Cancel Thousands of Flights as FAA Cuts Reach 6 Percent

Major airlines canceled 6 percent of flights at 40 high-traffic airports on Tuesday under an FAA order, as cancellations tied to air traffic controller shortages climbed during the government shutdown. More than 1,200 U.S. flights were canceled and over 2,000 delayed, according to FlightAware, NBC News reported. On Monday, with the reductions at 4 percent, more than 2,400 flights were canceled.

The FAA’s cuts began at 4 percent on Friday and were scheduled to rise to 8 percent on Thursday and 10 percent by Friday, barring changes, NBC reported. The agency attributed the cuts to air traffic control staffing shortages, and the reductions are meant to ease the strain on controllers, who have been working without pay since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

The agency’s own numbers show how quickly staffing problems grew. The FAA reported 11 staffing-related cancellations from Oct. 1 to Oct. 29, rising to 4,162 from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9, NBC reported. Of those, 3,756 occurred from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9. The FAA said more than 5 million air travelers have been affected by delays.

Controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees had worked 42 days without pay as of Tuesday, NBC reported. Controllers missed two paychecks, and the Associated Press reported that they cited stress and the need for second jobs as reasons for calling out (later source).

Al Jazeera reported that airlines were told to trim 4 percent of daily flights at 40 major airports starting Friday, with the cut reaching 6 percent on Tuesday and expected to reach 10 percent by Nov. 14.

The Senate passed a bipartisan bill on Monday night to end the shutdown, with eight members of the Democratic caucus breaking ranks, NBC reported. The bill still needs House approval and President Trump’s signature.

Weather complicated the picture. Two days of record cold affected the eastern two-thirds of the country, and NBC noted it is unclear how much of the day’s disruption was due to weather rather than the FAA order.