US Travel Crisis Deepens as Flight Cuts Mount Amid Controller Shortage
US airlines cancel 1,460 flights on second day of cutbacks as record government shutdown leads to severe shortage of unpaid air traffic controllers
- A severe shortage of air traffic controllers, caused by a record-long government shutdown leaving them unpaid, has led to high rates of absenteeism.
- The staffing crisis has forced the cancellation of thousands of flights and created extensive delays at major U.S. airports like New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.
- Due to safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated flight reductions, which are set to escalate from an initial 4% to 10% in the coming week.
US airlines cancel 1,460 flights on second day of cutbacks as record government shutdown leads to severe shortage of unpaid air traffic controllers.
The US government's ordered reduction in flight operations entered its second day on Saturday, resulting in 1,460 cancellations by airlines.
Thousands more flights faced extensive delays, compounding the country's travel woes due to a severe staffing crisis among air traffic controllers (ATCs) struggling amid the record-breaking federal government shutdown.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported on Saturday (November 8) that a major shortage of air traffic control staff was impacting 37 control towers and other aviation centres.
This led to significant flight delays at a minimum of 12 major US cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Newark, and San Francisco.
Approximately 6,000 flights were delayed on Saturday, a reduction from the estimated 7,000 delays recorded on Friday (November 7), which also saw 1,025 cancellations.
The FAA issued the directive to airlines to reduce their daily flights by 4% across 40 major airports, commencing last Friday, citing profound safety concerns related to air traffic control management.
The government shutdown, which is now the longest in US history at 39 days, has triggered a major staffing crisis as ATCs—like many other federal workers—have not been paid for weeks. This financial strain is directly linked to the increased absenteeism.
Mandated Cuts Set to Escalate
The mandatory flight reductions are scheduled to escalate further, increasing to 6% on Tuesday, November 11, and rising to 10% by November 14.
To manage the strained infrastructure, the FAA implemented ground delay programmes at nine departure airports on Saturday.
These measures targeted busy destination hubs, with flights bound for Atlanta—one of the US's busiest airports—experiencing average delays of 282 minutes.
The initial flight cuts on Friday affected approximately 700 flights across the four largest carriers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines.
These four airlines were compelled to cancel a similar number of flights on Saturday under the FAA mandate but were forced to make further, unplanned cancellations due to the air traffic controller staffing issue.
Earlier in the week, FAA executive Bryan Bedford disclosed that between 20% and 40% of air traffic controllers had failed to report for duty in recent days.
Throughout the shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screening staff have been forced to work without pay, driving up rates of non-attendance.
Many ATCs were notified last Thursday (November 7) that they would miss their second consecutive paycheque in the upcoming pay cycle.
The US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy indicated that he might be forced to call for air traffic to be reduced by as much as 20% if the ATC absenteeism rate continues to climb.
