FAA to cut thousands of US flights with 40 major airports affected
Topics: Travel, US News, Politics, Donald Trump
Ellie Kemp
Featured Image Credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Travel, US News, Politics, Donald Trump
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is set to cut thousands of flights across 40 US airports from Friday (November 7) as the government shutdown rumbles on.
Up to 4,000 domestic flights a day could be canceled, while international routes will not be affected.
The record-breaking federal government deadlock entered its 36th day on Wednesday (November 5), having been partially shut down since October 1.
The last government shutdown - also under Donald Trump's government in 2018/19 - lasted 35 days.
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This year's shutdown is because Republicans and Democrats couldn’t reach an agreement on a new bill to fund government services after the previous federal budget ran out.
While a new poll has shown who Americans reckon is to blame for the impasse, there's no clear end in sight.
The shutdown has left thousands of workers unpaid and millions of Americans facing suspended benefits.
Some have been furloughed while others are working without pay.
Pressure is piling up on federal workers, including air traffic controllers - some of whom are taking on additional jobs to cope with the pinch, reports the BBC.
Reuters reported that the flight cuts would begin with four percent of domestic flights on Friday.
The figure will then rise to five percent on Saturday (November 8), six percent on Sunday (November 9) before growing to 10 percent the following week.
At a press conference on Wednesday, administrator of the FAA, Bryan Bedford, described the situation as 'unusual'.
"It is unusual, just as the shutdown is unusual, just as the fact that our controllers haven't been paid for a month is unusual," he said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reassured the public that air travel was still safe.
He stressed the decision to cut flights is being taken to 'reduce the risk profile in the national airspace'.
Bedford backed this up, adding: "We're not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent, you know, things from deteriorating. So the system is extremely safe today will be extremely safe tomorrow."
However, they did warn further measures may have to be taken if the shutdown continues.
As per ABC news, the following 40 airports will be impacted by the cuts: