Get Ready for an Air-Travel Meltdown

"After more than a month under the mounting pressure of the U.S. government shutdown, the national air-travel system now appears to be in the early stages of collapse with the FAA announcing Wednesday that it intends to reduce airline flights by 10 percent at 40 of the nation's busiest airports. The cuts will be phased in gradually with a reduction of 4 percent on Friday, 5 percent on Saturday, 6 percent on Sunday, and a full 10 percent next week."

"Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy had previously indicated that even more severe reductions might be in the offing. "You will see mass flight delays, you'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air-traffic controllers," he said at a press conference. Until this week, the system had been holding up surprisingly well."

"Even though the lack of pay has led to an increasing number of air-traffic controllers missing work, that has not yet resulted in significant flight delays. Cirium reports that through last week, there was only one day - the day before Halloween - on which flight delays were significantly worse than usual, and that was partly attributable to bad weather."

The FAA plans to reduce airline flights by up to 10 percent at 40 of the nation's busiest airports, phasing cuts from 4 percent to 10 percent over several days. Cirium reported 739 cancellations as of 7 a.m., about 3 percent of Friday's scheduled flights, and warned cancellations could hit as many as 4,000 per day if reductions continue. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy warned of mass delays, mass cancellations, and potential partial airspace closures due to insufficient air-traffic controllers. Lack of pay has increased controller absences, though significant delays have been limited so far. Experts warn that continuing shutdown through Thanksgiving could trigger widespread chaos and cancellations at U.S. airports.

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