US airline regulators are expected to publish a list of 40 airports serving “high-volume markets” where air traffic will be reduced on Friday, a move that could would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create a cascade of scheduling issues and delays at some of nation’s largest airports.
The Federal Administration Agency has said flights are being reduced to maintain safety during the ongoing federal government shutdown, now the longest recorded and with no sign of a resolution between Republicans and Democrats to end the federal budget standoff, now in its 35th day.
Experts predict hundreds if not thousands of flights could be canceled. The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats combined, according to an estimate by aviation analytics firm Cirium.
ABC News said it had obtained a list of affected airports, which includes Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, all three New York City-area airports and Chicago O’Hare.
The flight reductions, the outlet reported, will start at 4% on Friday and work up to 10%. The flights impacted by these reductions are scheduled during the hours of 6am to 10pm.
The likely airspace shutdown comes two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday – typically the busiest travel period of the year – and raises pressures on lawmakers to reach a deal to end the shutdown.
Air traffic controllers, already in short supply, have been working unpaid since 1 October, with many working mandatory overtime and others taking second jobs, according to Sean Duffy, the transport secretary, who said the cuts would be to “alleviate the pressure”.
“Many of the controllers said ‘A lot of us can navigate missing one paycheck. Not everybody, but a lot of us can. None of us can manage missing two paychecks,’” Duffy said on Wednesday.
Duffy warned that there could be chaos next week if controllers miss a second full paycheck on Tuesday.
“If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight delays,” he said. “You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have air traffic controllers.”
The agency’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is responsible for the scheduling and safety of more than 44,000 flights and more than 3m airline passengers daily across more than 29m square miles of airspace. The potential for air travel chaos comes two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, the busiest travel weekend of the year.
The government shutdown has left shortages of up to 3,000 air traffic controllers, according to the administration, in addition to at least 11,000 more receiving zero wages despite being categorized as essential workers.
Bryan Bedford, the FAA administrator, said the flight reductions are intended to keep the air space safe during the shutdown.
“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” Bedford said. “We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”
“Our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible. Reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations. This is not based on light airline travel locations. This is about where the pressure is and how to really deviate the pressure,” Bedford added.
Geoff Freeman, the US Travel Association president and CEO, said in a statement that the government shutdown is “forcing difficult operational decisions that disrupt travel and damage confidence in the US air travel experience”.
Aviation expert John Nance told ABC that regulators were “probably trying to do their best” to prevent any reduction in the margins of safety. “We’re facing the potential of almost a shutdown the national airspace… you cannot continue to operate this in a way that ignores the diminution of safety. This is an incredibly serious situation.”
From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The figure, which is likely an undercount, is well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.
During weekends from 1 January to 30 September, the average number of airport towers, regional control centers and facilities monitoring traffic at higher altitudes that announced potential staffing issues was 8.3, according to the AP analysis. But during the five weekend periods since the shutdown began, the average more than tripled to 26.2 facilities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
