Will air traffic be “normal” after the shutdown ends? Not quite yet…
The longest government shutdown is officially over. But the trouble it caused for air travelers was not.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have not ended their current flight reduction plans, with cuts expected to be 8% and 10% respectively on Thursday and Friday.
Instead, there is a new emergency order Freezes mandatory flight cuts at the current 6% level while the FAA develops next steps.
“If the FAA safety team determines that trend lines are moving in the right direction, we will propose a path to return to normal operations,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
The 40 affected airports that have imposed reduced flights remain unchanged (see below). But cancellations and delays continue to ripple across the system.
In the early hours of Thursday morning (1 a.m. ET), Flightaware.com reported that nearly 1,000 flights in and out of the United States were canceled that day, and about 400 flights were delayed.
Getting back to normal isn't that easy. or smooth. Even if flights are reduced and completely canceled.
“Airlines will not be able to resume normal operations immediately after the vote,” aviation industry group American Airlines said in a statement shortly before the shutdown vote was completed. “This will have residual impacts for several days.”
'High-impact' airports forced to reduce flights
ANC – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
ATL – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
BOS – Boston Logan International Airport
BWI – Baltimore/Washington International Airport
CLT – Charlotte Douglas International Airport
CVG – Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
DAL – Dallas Love Field
DCA – Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
DEN – Denver International Airport
DFW – Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
DTW – Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
EWR – Newark Liberty International Airport
FLL – Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport
HNL – Honolulu International Airport
HOU – William P. Hobby Airport
IAD – Washington Dulles International Airport
IAH – George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport
IND – Indianapolis International Airport
JFK – New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
LAS – Las Vegas McCarran International Airport
LAX – Los Angeles International Airport
LGA – New York LaGuardia Airport
MCO – Orlando International Airport
MDW – Chicago Midway International Airport
MEM – Memphis International Airport
MIA-Miami International Airport
MSP – Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport
OAK – Oakland International Airport
ONT-Ontario International Airport
ORD – Chicago O’Hare International Airport
PDX – Portland International Airport
PHL-Philadelphia International Airport
PHX – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
SAN – San Diego International Airport
SDF-Louisville Intl.
SEA – Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
SFO – San Francisco International Airport
SLC – Salt Lake City International Airport
TEB – Teterboro Airport
TPA – Tampa International Airport
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