United States of America The Federal Aviation Administration plans to cut flights at 40 high-traffic airports by 10 percent Friday morning if Congress fails to reopen the federal government by then, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Chief Brian Bedford said Wednesday.
The announcement came a few days after the US agency It has faced massive shortages, he said Half of the nation’s 30 busiest airports face hour-long security lines due to the absence of air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration agents. Federal workers have now gone 35 days without a paycheck in the longest government shutdown in US history.
Which flights may be canceled and where, is “data-based,” Duffy said Wednesday. “Based on that, where is the pressure and how can we reduce the pressure?”
When passengers fly, “they’re going to get to their destination safely, because we’ve done our job,” Duffy said.
The FAA did not immediately respond to WIRED’s questions, and it was unclear whether the flight cuts would affect only commercial airlines or cargo and private flights as well. A 10 percent reduction in scheduled commercial flights at 40 airports could result in the cancellation of about 4,000 to 5,000 flights per day.
For airlines and travelers, a sudden flight cut can cause some serious logistical headaches. Duffy earlier this week Air travel warns of “mass chaos”. Shutdown should be pulled.
But airlines have little experience responding to sudden flight reductions due to staffing problems, said Michael McCormick, a former FAA official who now heads Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s air traffic management program.
In the spring of 2023, Another period of air traffic controller shortagesThe FAA has allowed airlines to reduce their capacity at New York-area airports (Such reductions usually force airlines to lose takeoff or landing rights; the FAA temporarily waived that penalty.) In response, airline schedulers were able to “up-gauge” quickly, replacing smaller aircraft with larger aircraft to compensate for the reduced number of flights. Thus, cutting flights did not necessarily reduce the number of passengers flying overall.
If the FAA follows through Friday, airlines will likely be able to pull off a similar up-gauging process, McCormick said. Although flights will be canceled and passengers stranded, this could mean that many are still able to get to their destinations. The move could actually give airlines more time to prepare.
“Under current conditions, it is impossible to predict which airports will be affected tomorrow,” he said. “It restores some predictability.”