U.S. airlines are bracing for chaos and scrambling to rejig their schedules after Donald Trump’s administration ordered flight reductions at major airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers caused by the ongoing government shutdown.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy ordered 10 percent flight cuts to start on Friday at 40 major U.S. airports, including those in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, affecting both commercial and cargo services. Smaller travel hubs are likely to feel the disruption too.
The cuts are expected to hit hundreds of thousands of travelers with little notice. By late Thursday, over 800 flights had already been canceled and analysts have estimated the reductions could ultimately mean 1,800 flights a day being scrapped, a loss of 268,000 seats.
As carriers struggle to adjust to the situation, United Airlines pledged it would do “everything we can to minimize disruptions to your travel plans” and was avoiding cancelations for long-haul international flights.
American Airlines said it was still awaiting further information from the Federal Aviation Administration as to how its flights would be affected.
Delta Airlines said it expected the majority of its flights to operate as planned.
Watch: Transport secretary announces flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports
Here’s Sean Duffy’s announcement Wednesday about the cutbacks, which he had warned were coming without a resolution to the government shutdown being forged by lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The deadlock became the longest in U.S. history earlier this week and is now into its 38th day, surpassing the 35-dayer in 2018/2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Major flight cancellations hit airports as Trump administration cuts services over government shutdown
Airports across the U.S. are bracing for chaos as cuts to flight schedules made by the Federal Aviation Administration come into effect amid the ongoing government shutdown, now the longest in American history.
By late Thursday over 800 flights within and in and out of the U.S. had already been canceled for Friday according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.com.
Around 200 flights were canceled Thursday as airports and passengers prepared to bear the brunt of the measures.
It comes after Transport Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA announced that 40 of the country’s busiest airports across two dozen states, including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago, would be phasing in a 10 percent reduction in their flight schedules.
The disruptions will affect service at many smaller airports too and some travelers had already started changing or canceling their itineraries.
Here’s Mike Bedigan and Rhian Lubin to set the scene.
Good morning
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Friday’s expected travel chaos across major U.S. airports after the Trump administration ordered 10 percent reductions in flights from major airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers caused by the ongoing government shutdown.
