An order by the US government to make drastic cuts to commercial air traffic amid the government shutdown has affected a significant reduction in the schedules of the plans’ plans.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the move was necessary to maintain the safety of air traffic in a virtual resolution, where there is no charge for a resolution.
As Airlines begin to reduce domestic flights, the main global hubs such as JFK in New York and LAX in Los Angeles will be affected, having the effect of delaying international air traffic.
“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are actively reducing the number of flights to ensure that the American people continue to fly safely,” said Bryan Beford, the FAA Administrator.
Since the beginning of the shutdown, which began last month after the breakdown between Republicans and Democrats on the financing of traffic plans, which caused the delay.
US transportation secretary Sean Duffy has announced 40 “high-traffic” airports across the country must reduce flights. A 4% reduction in the operations of the airports, but it will increase by 10% next week.
Duffy accused the Democrats of being responsible for any “mass unrest”, although the shutdown was the result of both Republicans and Democrats refusing to agree to a deal.
The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights and up to 268,000 sheets combined, according to an estimate by the Aviation Analytics Firm.
With the deep antagonism between the two political parties, the government of Donald Trump collected the previous record for the longest shutdown, which was set for the first time in 2018-19.
Together, Southwest and Delta Air Lines began canceling flights Thursday night.
The affected airports cover more than two dozen states including the most important throughout the US – including Atlanta, Denlotte, Dallas, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. Flight schedules will be reduced in some of the largest US cities – such as New York, Houston and Chicago.
Scott Kirby, United Airlines CEO, said in a statement that the airline “will continue to update our schedule to educate our customers and mitigate the disruption”.
Delta Air Lines said it will comply with the directive and “expects to operate most of our flights as scheduled”.
Airspace disruption comes two weeks before the Holiday season – typically the busiest travel time of the year – and has increased pressure on lawmakers to end the shutdown.
In a statement, American airlines said that most customers will not be affected and that long-haul international flights will remain scheduled, and customers can change their flight. “In the meantime, we continue to urge leaders in Washington to reach an immediate resolution to end the shutdown,” the airline said.
The government shutdown has left shortages of up to 3,000 air traffic controllers, according to the administration, in addition to 11,000 additional salaries though categorized as essential workers.
“I don’t know in my 35-year history of the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’ve taken these types of measurements,” Bedford said. “We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”