US Politics
Ready for takeoff? Flight disruptions ease as shutdown nears end but will still take days to resolve
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After almost a week of travel chaos that saw tens of thousands of flights disrupted across the U.S., passengers finally received some good news as air travel operations appeared to improve.
Over 950 flights were canceled and almost 900 delayed within, into, or out of the U.S. on Wednesday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. That is a significant drop from previous days as Democrats and Republicans attempt to end the historic federal government shutdown.
Data reviewed by The Independent showed a steady drop in disruption this week since a peak on Sunday, when over 11,000 flights were delayed and almost 3,000 were canceled.
Travelers and airlines alike have scrambled to rejig their schedules after Donald Trump’s administration ordered flight reductions at major airports last week. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered 10 percent flight cuts to start Friday at 40 U.S. airports, including those in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
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Cuts were made due to concerns of staff shortages and subsequent safety issues caused by the ongoing shutdown, which left many federal workers, including air traffic control staff, without paychecks for over a month.
Despite the midweek drop in flight delays and cancellations, concerns remain over further disruption, with Duffy warning that problems could persist into Thanksgiving even if the shutdown is ended soon.
Industry groups project a record 31 million passengers traveling in the days leading up to and after the holiday.
Monday saw around 12,000 flights affected, dropping to just under 6,000 on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, according to FlightAware. However, Duffy urged caution.
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“You’re going to see this Friday, Saturday and Sunday… massively more disruptions than what we’ve come into this [past] weekend if the government doesn’t reopen,” the Transportation Secretary said at a news conference Tuesday.
His words came as a bill to reopen the government, which has already passed the Senate, is set to be taken up by the House on Wednesday. Duffy did not offer a specific timeline for when airlines would fully resume operations.
“We’re going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel,” he said. However, Duffy noted that, in line with the flight data, improvements were already being seen, including fewer airports reporting staffing issues with air traffic control.
