The FAA-mandated flight cancellations will ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14.
The travel of over four million passengers flying on Airlines for America (A4A) member airlines has been disrupted since the start of the government shutdown on Oct. 1 to Friday, according to the Airlines for America.
Airlines for America members include Delta, American, Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, and United Airlines.
“During the first 29 days of the shutdown, A4A member airlines canceled just 11 flights due to controller staffing issues; over the ensuing nine days, however, controller staffing issues caused them to cancel 1,271, including 865 on Nov. 7,” the association said.
The association estimates that there will be a “daily U.S. economic impact of $285M-580M” when the Federal Aviation Administration-mandated flight reduction reaches 10%.
“The estimate is tied solely to compliance with the flight-reduction directive; it does not include the ongoing staffing issues during the shutdown, the costs associated with the value of passenger time, reduced bookings, passenger refunds, etc.,” the association said.
More than 4,200 flights traveling into, from and within the U.S. have been delayed, and 1,500 flights have been canceled as of Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware.com.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport accounts for many of the delays, with over 600 flights delayed, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport accounts for most of the cancellations, with more than 320.
Southwest has delayed 1,030 flights so far today, and Delta has canceled almost 390.
U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,500 weekend flights by Saturday evening as the Federal Aviation Administration’s mandate to reduce air traffic because of the government shutdown showed no signs of easing.
The slowdown at many of the nation’s busiest airports did not cause immediate widespread disruptions. But it deepened the impact felt by the nation’s longest federal shutdown.
“We all travel. We all have somewhere to be,” said Emmy Holguin, 36, who was flying from Miami to see family in the Dominican Republic. “I’m hoping that the government can take care of this.”
Analysts warn that the upheaval will intensify and spread far beyond air travel if cancellations keep growing and reach into Thanksgiving week.
Already there are concerns about the squeeze on tourism destinations and holiday shipping.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that travel will be “reduced to a trickle” ahead of Thanksgiving, warning that many will not be able to spend the holiday with their families.
“We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays, they want to see their family, they want to celebrate this great American holiday,” Duffy said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Listen, many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up. We have controllers who, again, are making decisions to feed their families, as opposed to come to towers or TRACONs or centers and do their jobs.”
Duffy added that he believes the number of people who will not be able to see their families for Thanksgiving “is going to be substantial.”
The transportation also reiterated that the goal of the flight reduction is to ensure safety.
“The problem is that as I try to reduce the pressure by lowering flights, I have more controllers that keep not coming to work, and so the pressure goes back up again,” he said. “And so I’m critically aware of that pressure of rising risk and trying to take that out of the system.”
Staffing accounted for about 71% of total National Airspace System delay minutes yesterday, according to Airlines for America, which analyzed Federal Aviation Administration data.
“Staffing-related delay minutes exceeded 184,000 — the highest of the shutdown,” the association said about yesterday’s delays.
According to Airlines for America, the staffing issues have triggered “secondary impacts,” including “late aircraft arrivals, crew legality issues, and equipment mispositioning.” This is expected to get worse as the FAA-mandated flight reductions reach 10%.
“Unlike weather-driven disruptions that airlines prepare for and recover from, each controller shift change or facility staffing trigger adds hours of delay with no advance notice, undermining the airlines’ ability to plan, staff or protect customers,” the association said.
NEW YORK — The Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement of a 10% reduction in flight capacity across 40 major U.S. airports could put a strain on air cargo as the peak holiday season approaches.
Several airports with major package distribution centers are on the list of airports that will reduce capacity — FedEx has hubs at the airports in Indianapolis and Memphis, Tennessee. UPS’ biggest hub, Worldport, is in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of this week’s deadly cargo plane crash.
Meanwhile, UPS and FedEx said late Friday they’re grounding their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes “out of an abundance of caution” following a deadly crash at the UPS global aviation hub in Kentucky.
The crash Tuesday at UPS Worldport in Louisville killed 14 people, including the three pilots on the MD-11, which was headed for Honolulu.
MD-11 aircraft make up about 9% of the UPS fleet and 4% of the FedEx fleet, the companies said.
Logistics companies say consumers shouldn’t expect delays on their packages due to the reduction in flights — for now. But they put a strain on the supply chain ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season.
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A ground delay has been issued at Newark Liberty International Airport due to staffing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Departures to the airport are delayed by over two hours, while departures from the airport are delayed by about 15 minutes. The ground delay is expected to persist until midnight.
Departures from LaGuardia Airport are also delayed by about 15 minutes due to staffing.
As of this morning, over 1,300 flights traveling to, from and within the U.S. have been delayed and more than 1,200 have been canceled, according to FlightAware.com.
Delta accounts for most of the cancellations, with 293 canceled flights, and Southwest Airlines for most delays, with 233 delayed flights.
Almost 280 flights have been canceled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and over 240 flights have been delayed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport today.
NBC News