fake imagesMore than 1,400 flights to, from or within the United States were canceled Saturday after airlines were ordered this week to reduce traffic during the federal government shutdown.
Nearly 6,000 flights were also delayed, up from more than 7,000 delays on Friday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced earlier this week that it would reduce air travel capacity by up to 10% at 40 of the country’s busiest airports as air traffic controllers, working without pay during the shutdown, report fatigue.
Republicans and Democrats remain divided over how to end the stalemate in Congress as the shutdown that began Oct. 1 continues.
Saturday marked the 39th day of the longest shutdown in history, as Republicans and Democrats have yet to reach an agreement on a funding resolution to reopen the government.
Senators are in Washington over the weekend to hold bipartisan negotiations aimed at ending the shutdown, which is beginning to be felt by more and more Americans amid cuts to food aid payments and flight disruptions.
In a statement Saturday, American Airlines urged “leaders in Washington, DC, to reach an immediate resolution to end the shutdown.”
New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport was experiencing some of the longest wait times. As of Saturday afternoon, airport arrivals were delayed an average of more than four hours, while airport departures were delayed an average of 1.5 hours, according to the FAA.
The airports with the most canceled flights on Saturday, both to and from the site, were Charlotte/Douglas International, Newark Liberty International and Chicago O’Hare International, according to FlightAware.
Departures to John F. Kennedy International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and La Guardia were delayed by nearly three hours, more than 2.5 hours and about an hour, respectively, the FAA reported as of Saturday afternoon.
With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching on November 27, it is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year in the US.
Not only commercial flights have been affected. There are also restrictions on private jets, Secretary Duffy said in a Saturday post on X.
“We have reduced their volume at high-traffic airports; instead, private jets use smaller airports or airfields so busy controllers can focus on commercial aviation,” Duffy wrote. “That’s fair.”
And things are likely to get worse in the coming days as the FAA increases the percentage of canceled flights.
On Thursday, the agency announced that the flight reductions would be gradual, starting with 4% of flights on Friday before increasing to 6% on Nov. 11, 8% on Nov. 13 and a full 10% on Nov. 14.
The FAA said the cuts were necessary to maintain safety as air traffic controllers were overworked during the shutdown.
As essential workers, controllers must continue to work without pay, and as a result, many have called out sick or taken second jobs to make ends meet, unions say.
The controllers are just some of the 1.4 million federal workers who have been working without pay or have been forced to work during the shutdown.
Another factor affecting air travel is that most of the 64,000 Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agents are also not paid while the shutdown is in effect.
During the previous government shutdown, under US President Donald Trump in 2018, up to 10% of TSA staff were found to have opted to stay home rather than work for free.
