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U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Friday the administration could force airlines to cut up to 20 per cent of flights if the government shutdown did not end, as U.S. airlines scrambled to make unprecedented government-imposed reductions.
Airlines cut four per cent of their domestic flights at 40 of the country’s busiest airports on Friday, under orders from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to reduce the strain on air traffic controllers. The cuts will rise to 10 per cent on Nov. 14.
Duffy told reporters it was possible he could require 20 per cent cuts later.
“I assess the data,” he said. “We’re going to make decisions based on what we see in the air space.”
During the record 38-day shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay, leading to increased absenteeism.
Earlier this week, FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said 20 to 40 per cent of controllers were not showing up for work on any given day.
The Trump administration has sought to ramp up pressure on Democrats in Congress to agree to a Republican plan to fund the federal government, which would allow it to reopen.
WATCH | What Canadians need to know:
How could U.S. flight reductions impact Canadian travellers?
A reduction in U.S. domestic flights is underway at 40 airports in response to the government shutdown. The FAA has ordered a four per cent decrease in flights, and is expected to increase to 10 per cent by the end of next week. CBC’s Julia Wong on how the cuts could impact Canadian travellers, especially those who are catching connecting flights in the U.S.
Raising the spectre of further air-travel disruptions could add to the pressure.
But Democrats contend Republicans are to blame for the shutdown because they refuse to negotiate over extending health insurance subsidies, and are looking to pin the disruptions on them.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, on Friday posted a photo of an airport flight board filled with cancelled flights, writing that the shutdown has “grounded America just in time for the holidays!”
The current cuts include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — and are set to rise to six per cent on Tuesday. They don’t apply to international flights.
WATCH | Hundreds of flights cancelled:
More than 800 U.S. domestic flights cut due to government shutdown
U.S. airlines have cut four per cent of flights at 40 major airports after the government ordered a reduction in air traffic citing air traffic control safety concerns because of a record-setting government shutdown. The cuts don’t apply to international flights, but Canadian airlines flying into the U.S. warn of potential delays with connecting flights.
Separately, air traffic controller absences on Friday forced the FAA to delay hundreds of flights at 10 airports including in Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Washington and Newark. By 3:30 p.m. ET, there were more than 3,500 flight delays.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said on Friday he doesn’t expect significant disruption for customers from initial government-ordered flight reductions, but he warned that increased cuts would be “problematic.”
“This level of cancellation is going to grow over time, and that’s something that is going to be problematic,” he told CNBC.
American Airlines told Reuters that its 220 flight cancellations on Friday impacted 12,000 passengers.
‘The wrong direction’
United Airlines said half of its impacted customers were able to be rebooked within four hours of their original departure time. United, which cancelled 184 flights on Friday, will cut 168 on Saturday and 158 on Sunday.
Duffy says the reductions are meant to maintain safety, compensating for weary and absent air-traffic controllers.
“We’ve had more complaints from pilots that have said, ‘Well, the controller is less responsive to me, or controllers seem to be more stressed,” he said. “The numbers are going in the wrong direction.”
The FAA did not publish the list of airports impacted until 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday — less than 12 hours before the cuts took effect — and largely rejected concerns airlines raised after they received the draft order.
The FAA is restricting space launches as well.
It also warned it could reject specific cuts if they disproportionately impacted certain communities and could cut up to 10 per cent of general aviation flights at high-traffic airports if staffing issues arose.
Travellers wait to clear security at San Diego International Airport after the U.S. Department of Transportation imposed a 10 per cent cutback on flight capacity at selected airports due to the ongoing government shutdown. They include the country’s busiest one-runway airport in San Diego. (Mike Blake/Reuters )
