US Air Travel Disruptions Persist Despite Potential End to Government Shutdown

Despite indications from the Senate that the US government shutdown may soon come to an end, air travel continues to be heavily impacted with over 1,700 flight cancellations and 5,000 delays on Thursday alone.

Major airports across the country are experiencing significant delays, with an average delay of one hour and 16 minutes at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, 44 minutes at Chicago O’Hare, and 46 minutes at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, according to FlightAware, a platform that monitors flight delays and cancellations worldwide.

American Airlines, one of the largest passenger carriers in the US, reported that the recent cancellations have affected approximately 250,000 customers. This comes as no surprise, as the shutdown has caused major disruptions in the travel plans of over four million passengers since it began on October 1, according to Airlines for America, a trade group representing major carriers.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also issued a directive for airlines to reduce their daily flights by 4% at 40 major airports due to safety concerns related to air traffic control staffing. This reduction is expected to increase to 6% on Tuesday and 10% by November 14.

President Donald Trump has called for air traffic controllers to return to work immediately, stating that those who do not show up will have their pay docked. He also promised a $10,000 reward for those who continue to work without receiving pay, although the source of these funds is unclear.

Last week, FAA chief Bryan Bedford reported that 20-40% of air traffic controllers were not showing up for work at the 30 largest US airports since the shutdown began. This has only worsened over the weekend, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stating that Saturday was the worst day in terms of staffing since the shutdown began.

In response, the FAA announced the suspension of general aviation operations at 12 major US airports, including Washington Reagan, Chicago O’Hare, and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport. This is an escalation from a previous directive that reduced general aviation by up to 10% at “High Impact Airports”. This move follows a recent push to ground private business air travel, as reported by Al Jazeera last week.

However, some advocates argue that these measures are not enough. Erica Payne, president of Patriotic Millionaires, a group advocating for a more equitable economy, suggests that the FAA should also ground all private jet travel to alleviate capacity issues.

Al Jazeera reached out to the Department of Transportation for information on the timeline for operations to return to normal once the shutdown ends, but received no clear response. Instead, the agency provided links to social media posts and videos blaming Democrats and citing a lack of air traffic controllers, rather than offering any solutions.

On Wall Street, airline stocks have taken a hit, with American Airlines’ stock down by over 2%, United down by 0.