Airlines warn flight cancellations will continue even after shutdown

Flight disruptions that have spoiled air travel for millions of people in recent weeks could continue even after the government shutdown ends, airlines and the Transportation Secretary said.

The Senate passed a bill Monday evening that could end the longest federal government shutdown in history, sending it to the House for a vote.

But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that would not be an immediate solution.

“We’re going to wait to see the data on our side before we remove travel restrictions, but that depends on the controllers returning to work,” Duffy said during a news conference at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Mr Duffy also warned that serious disruption in recent days could worsen without a deal.

The Senate vote comes as a shortage of air traffic controllers, who must work without their usual pay during the shutdown, has delayed or canceled thousands of flights, with problems worsening in recent days. Controllers did not receive their full second paychecks following the shutdown this week, and some have taken second jobs and are working with increasing stress levels, government and union officials said.

Even if the House passes the bill that will fund the federal government through January, airlines have said they will need time to readjust.

“Reduced airline flight schedules cannot immediately return to full capacity just after the government reopens,” said Airlines for America, an airline lobbying group including Delta Airlines, United Airlines, American airlines And Southwest Airlinessaid Monday evening. “This will take time, and there will be residual effects for several days. With the Thanksgiving travel period beginning next week and the busy shipping season approaching, now is the time to act now to help mitigate any further impact on Americans.”

Airlines will need time to reconfigure their schedules and position their planes and crews, something they were forced to resolve quickly with flight reductions imposed last week.

More than 5 million travelers have been affected by airline staffing issues since the shutdown began Oct. 1, Airlines for America said. The disruptions have caused some passengers to seek alternatives, from buses to rental cars and even private jets.

Last Friday, the Trump administration began requiring commercial airlines to cut domestic flights by 4% at 40 busy U.S. airports, with deeper reductions on the way if the shutdown does not end, with officials blaming air traffic controllers for the pressure.

Aviation groups said record numbers of travelers were expected for the Thanksgiving period, just over two weeks before the holiday.

Just over 5% of the 22,811 scheduled U.S. departures were canceled Tuesday, a relatively light day for travel in general, according to aviation data firm Cirium. That’s down from Monday’s 8.7% cancellation rate, or 2,239 flights, and Sunday’s 2,633 cancellations, or 10.2% of the schedule. Delays had also accumulated due to staff shortages and bad weather at major hubs, including Chicago O’Hare.

The shutdown, like that in late 2018 and early 2019, put aviation tensions in the spotlight. The previous shutdown, however, ended hours after a lack of air traffic controllers hampered air traffic in the New York area.

Aviation groups on Tuesday urged lawmakers not only to end the shutdown, but also to provide more funding to the Department of Transportation to help modernize air traffic control and hire more controllers, which were in short supply even before the shutdown began.

“The government shutdown has disrupted this work and slowed the strong momentum we have built toward modernization,” said the Modern Skies Coalition, which includes major airline, airport and aerospace groups such as Boeing, GE Aerospace and others, along with unions, wrote in an open letter to Congress.

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to cut the salaries of absentee air traffic controllers. “All air traffic controllers need to return to work, NOW!!!,” he wrote in an article on Truth Social, adding that he would recommend $10,000 bonuses to all air traffic controllers who were not absent during the shutdown.

Duffy said he supported Trump’s idea and was concerned about the dedication and “patriotism” of the controllers who did not show up for work. “If we have controllers who are consistently not doing their job, we will take action,” he said.

Duffy said controllers would receive about 70% of their salaries within two days of the shutdown ending.

A day earlier, National Air Traffic Controllers Association union president Nick Daniels said it took about two and a half months before workers were cured during the shutdown that ended in 2019.

Duffy said the shutdown has made recruiting air traffic controllers more difficult, with 15 to 20 of them retiring per day instead of about four per day before the government shutdown. He said the country is about 2,000 controllers short of what the system needs.

“The job of keeping aviation safe is difficult every day, but forcing federal employees to do it without pay is unacceptable,” the Modern Skies Coalition wrote in its open letter. “We owe officials at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other agencies supporting aviation, such as the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Security Administration, and Customs and Border Protection, a debt of gratitude and a speedy end to this shutdown.”