WASHINGTON, D.C. — Travelers across the country are hitting turbulence — and not in the sky.
Staffing shortages attributed to the government shutdown are grounding flights at more than three-dozen major U.S. airports. If you’re catching a flight this weekend, pack your patience.
The FAA is now cutting back flights at 40 major airports — including Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway, New York’s LaGuardia and JFK, Detroit Metro and D.C.’s Reagan National.
“It can be aggravating just sitting on the runway for 45 minutes waiting to take off because of short staffing or whatever it may be,” said Katie Paxton, who is traveling to Washington from Raleigh, N.C.
Raleigh is not one of the 40 airports impacted by the reductions yet, but Paxton was still informed about potential delays.
“There’s already been a couple of times on the way here, they did give us a heads up, ‘Hey, we might be just sitting here 45 minutes.’ Thankfully, they kind of reversed that real quick and were able to take off. But I know other people have been impacted and just kind of stuck on the runway for a little bit,” said Paxton.
Airlines canceled about 4% of flights today — more than 800 nationwide — as an air traffic controller shortage ripples through the system. Controllers say they’re burning out, with some picking up second jobs or calling in sick as missed paychecks pile up.
“During the shutdown, these professionals are required to oversee the movement of the nation’s passengers and cargo while many are working ten-hour days and six-day workweeks due to the ongoing staffing shortage, all without pay. This situation creates substantial distractions for individuals who are already engaged in extremely stressful work. The financial and mental strain increases risks within the National Airspace System, making it less safe with each passing day of the shutdown,” said National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels in a press release on Oct. 31.
“Congress must pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) to immediately end the government shutdown, ensure that all individuals who have not been paid during this prolonged closure receive their compensation, and then engage in bipartisan negotiations on other pressing issues facing our nation,” Daniels added.
“You’re going to get burnout — and that’s what we’re seeing now. There’s a higher level of fatigue with the controllers because they’ve been doing this for a long time as we tried to mitigate the impact of the shutdown,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday.
As fatigue rises, delays are expected to do the same. If the shutdown continues, flight reductions could more than double by next Friday.
“But there’s an easy answer, there’s an easy answer: Open up the government. Stop this,” said Duffy. “They should sit here like Americans sit in airports, they should sit in their offices, they should sit in the Senate and figure out how they’re going to come up with a deal to open this back up and not use the American people as leverage.”
Experts say travelers should plan ahead — book direct flights, watch for last-minute app alerts, and, if possible, drive to a larger airport. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s unclear how the shutdown and flight reductions will impact the busy holiday travel period.
