Over 800 flights cancelled in US as flight cuts at 40 airports kick in amid US govt shutdown
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a 4 per cent reduction in flights at 40 airports across the US to cut traffic starting Friday
More than 800 flights were cancelled in United States even as the flight cuts announced at 40 airports – including New York, Los Angeles and SanDiego – are set to kick in on Friday.
This comes after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a 4 per cent reduction in flights at 40 airports across the US to cut traffic starting Friday, even as operations remain impacted amid the government shutdown.
Following the FAA order, several major airlines preemptively cancelled hundreds of flights scheduled for today, with the mandated cuts expected to increase to 10 per cent next week if the shutdown continues, CNN reported.
US flight cuts: Check full list of 40 affected airports and delays here
The flight cancellations stood at 800 at around 4:30 am ET on Friday, four times the number of cancellations a day earlier, according to data from FlightAware. The cancellations on Thursday stood at 201. Several airlines have assured passengers of a full refund for the tickets of the flights cancelled.
Meanwhile, the FAA has warned that up to 4,000 flights could be affected per day if the shutdown does not end, with the control towers at airports struggling due to absences from air traffic controllers, according to BBC.
The flight cuts were announced by the US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during a presser on Wednesday. “It's going to lead to more cancellations, but we are going to work with the airlines to do this in a systematic way,” he said.
What details do we know about the US flight cuts?
While public details on the recent measure are very sparse, some aspects about the US government's plan are known, according to a Bloomberg report.
Airlines have reportedly been informed that the flight cuts should usually come between 6 am and 10 pm, according to people familiar with the matter. The people refused to be identified given that these details have not been made public yet, Bloomberg reported.
Apart from this, government officials have told carriers that the flight reductions are likely to start at 4 per cent and then build to 10 per cent some time next week. However, the officials have reportedly said that international flights would be exempted from these cuts.
According to a report from Sheila Kahyaoglu, an analyst with Jefferies, the big four airlines in the US, which have the most flights in the country's largest hubs, will likely be the most impacted during November and December.
