Over 1,000 U.S. flights canceled as air traffic reduction takes effect amid gov't shutdown

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

Over 1,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Friday as a reduction in air traffic took effect amid an air traffic controller staffing shortage during the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

U.S. flight-tracking website FlightAware showed that as of 5 p.m. Friday, 4,309 flights had been delayed and 1,002 canceled.

This came after the U.S. Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Wednesday that the federal government will reduce airline traffic at 40 locations beginning on Friday.

The FAA-mandated flight cancellation plan calls for a 4-percent reduction in operations on Friday. It will ramp up to 6 percent by next Tuesday, 8 percent by next Thursday, and up to 10 percent by next Friday.

FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said earlier this week that a 10-percent reduction in scheduled capacity would be appropriate to "continue to take the pressure off of our (air traffic) controllers, and as we continue to see staffing triggers, there will be additional measures that will be taken in those specific markets."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that flight reductions could go as high as 20 percent if the government shutdown drags on.

Since the U.S. federal government shutdown began, about 13,000 air traffic controllers and roughly 50,000 airport security officers have been forced to work without pay. Duffy recently said that some air traffic controllers have been working 10-hour days, six days per week.

An increasing number of employees have taken leave, leading to acute staffing shortages in the aviation industry, worsening flight delays across many regions, and raising concerns over aviation safety.

Data from FlightAware shows that thousands of flights nationwide are experiencing delays each day. More than 7,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed on Thursday.