Federal shutdown grounds thousands of flights as air traffic staff crisis deepens

As the record-breaking federal government shutdown stretches into its 40th day, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that US air travel could slow to “a trickle” ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, with worsening shortages of air traffic controllers grounding more flights in the coming weeks.

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Duffy said that airlines were already struggling with a third consecutive day of government-ordered flight reductions after thousands of delays and cancellations over the weekend. He cautioned that unless the government reopens soon, “the two weeks before Thanksgiving” could see air travel grind to a near halt.

The prolonged shutdown has left federal aviation staff unpaid for weeks, prompting severe staffing shortages across control towers and major hubs. Duffy said the crisis was beginning to hit travellers hardest during one of the busiest periods of the year.

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“Millions of people plan to fly for Thanksgiving, but many won’t make it on board if this continues,” he warned. “There simply won’t be enough flights operating.”

Thanksgiving, one of the most significant holidays in the US, falls on November 27 this year.

Daily flights cut  

The Federal Aviation Administration instructed airlines to cut 4 per cent of daily flights starting on Friday at 40 major airports because of air traffic control safety concerns. Reductions in flights are mandated to reach 6 per cent on Tuesday and then hit 10 per cent by November 14.

The FAA on Saturday said air traffic control staffing shortages were impacting 42 airport towers and other centers and delaying flights in at least 12 major US cities, including Atlanta, Newark, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

A growing number of air traffic controllers have retired since the federal shutdown started on October 1, Duffy said. The FAA is 1,000 to 2,000 controllers short of full staffing, he told CNN.

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“I paid experienced controllers to stay on the job and not retire,” Duffy said. “I used to have about four controllers retire a day before the shutdown, …now up to 15 to 20 a day are retiring."

Some 1,550 flights were cancelled and 6,700 were delayed on Saturday, up from 1,025 cancellations and 7,000 delayed flights on Friday.

Airline officials privately said the number of delay programs made it nearly impossible to schedule and plan many flights and expressed alarm about how the system would function if staffing issues worsen.

The cuts, which began on Friday morning, include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers: American Airlines , Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. The airlines are due to cancel about the same number of flights on Sunday.

During the government shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay.

Duffy had earlier said he could require 20 per cent cuts in air traffic if more controllers stop showing up for work.

Republican US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said he was told by the FAA that since the shutdown started pilots have filed more than 500 safety reports about mistakes made by air traffic controllers because of fatigue.

With inputs from agencies