Politics

O’Hare, Midway Among 40 US Airports Targeted for Flight Cuts Due to Government Shutdown

O’Hare and Midway are among 40 of some of the busiest airports in the U.S. where flights will be cut starting Friday due to the government shutdown, according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday it would reduce air traffic by 10% across “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers go unpaid and exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown.

The affected airports in more than two dozen states include the busiest ones across the U.S., including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Miami and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities — such as New York, Houston and Chicago — multiple airports will be affected.

The FAA is imposing the flight reductions to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the government shutdown and have been increasingly calling off work. The move also comes as the Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown.

Controllers already have missed one full paycheck and are scheduled to again receive nothing next week as the shutdown drags on.

The FAA has been delaying flights at times when airports or its other facilities are short on controllers.

Passengers should start to be notified about cancellations Thursday. Airlines said they would try to minimize the impact on customers, some of whom will see weekend travel plans disrupted with little notice.

United Airlines VP: ‘We Have Options’

United Airlines, headquartered in Chicago, said it would focus the cuts on smaller regional routes that use smaller planes.

“United’s long-haul international flying and our hub-to-hub flying will not be impacted by this schedule reduction direction from the FAA,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement Wednesday. “Instead, we will focus our schedule reductions on regional flying and domestic mainline flights that do not travel between our hubs.”

In addition to O’Hare, United’s hub airports include those located in Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Guam.

United Vice President of Airport Operations in Chicago Omar Idris said the FAA has asked all carriers to begin a process of reducing their flight schedule, starting with cutting 4% of flights and working up to 10% by the end of next week on Friday.

United has canceled 23 roundtrips at O’Hare for Friday, potentially impacting an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 travelers, according to Idris. Notifications to travelers have started to be sent out, Idris said, noting that some impacted travelers might be able to move to a later or earlier flight.

“There’s plenty of alternatives,” Idris said, “and the good news is we’re not in full holiday mode yet, so we have seats. We have options and places to put people, and that’s what really helps.”

Most of United’s flight schedules for major cities will remain intact, according to Idris, adding that the majority of flights canceled will be in smaller markets.

Across all the airlines at O’Hare, Idris estimated that fewer than 100 flights would be canceled Friday when FAA directives kick in. About 150 to 160 flights could be canceled per day at the airport when airlines work up to 10% cuts by the end of next week, according to Idris.

Idris said if the government shutdown extends into the holidays, the airline is in a “good position” to address the travel rush through proper planning and communication.

“The number of cancellations — 10% might sound like a lot — but we handle events like that a lot, especially when it’s related to big weather,” Idris said.

The Chicago Department of Aviation, which operates O’Hare and Midway airports, did not respond to a request for comment.

Airlines Shuffling Schedules

United, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said they would offer refunds to passengers who opt not to fly, even if they purchased tickets that aren’t normally refundable.

The head of Frontier Airlines recommended that travelers buy back-up tickets with another airline to avoid being stranded.

The cuts could affect as many as 1,800 flights, or upwards of 268,000 passengers, per day across the U.S., according to an estimate by aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Airlines routinely cut thousands of flights when a major snowstorm moves across the country in the wintertime. Last January, more than 2,000 flights were cancelled on one day as a storm moved across Texas, Louisiana and much of the Gulf coast.

The difference is that these cuts being made during the shutdown will last indefinitely until safety data improves.

“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said Wednesday. “We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”

David White, a Hanover Park resident, flew into O’Hare from Dallas on Thursday. He said he sees the cancellations as a safety move, adding that he doesn’t fly too frequently so he “can’t imagine” what it must be like for people who fly every day.

“As a flying public, I understand that safety comes first,” White, 48, said. “All the air traffic controllers not having a paycheck is unfortunate, so I think it was a good move.”

White said his experience traveling to and from Dallas during the government shutdown was smooth, but he did anticipate possibly being impacted after seeing news reports of passengers in Houston experiencing three-hour wait times earlier this week.

“I travel next week — I go to LaGuardia — so I don’t know how that’s gonna be,” White said. “Fingers crossed. I hope it’s smooth.”

LaGuardia Airport in New York is among the airports that will experience flight cuts.

Shutdown Already Straining Airlines

Air traffic controllers have been working unpaid since the shutdown began Oct. 1. Most work mandatory overtime six days a week, leaving little time for side jobs to help cover bills and other expenses unless they call out.

Mounting staffing pressures are forcing the agency to act, Bedford said.

“We can’t ignore it,” he said.

Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that they would meet with airline executives to figure out how to safely implement the reductions.

Major airlines, aviation unions and the broader travel industry have been urging Congress to end the shutdown, which on Wednesday became the longest on record.

The shutdown is putting unnecessary strain on the system and “forcing difficult operational decisions that disrupt travel and damage confidence in the U.S. air travel experience,” U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman said in a statement.

Duffy warned earlier this week that there could be chaos in the skies if the shutdown drags on long enough for air traffic controllers to miss their second full paycheck next week.

He said some controllers can get by missing one paycheck, but not two or more.

Controller Staffing Worsening

Staffing can run short both in regional control centers that manage multiple airports and in individual airport towers, but they don’t always lead to flight disruptions. Throughout October, flight delays caused by staffing problems had been largely isolated and temporary.

But the past weekend brought some of the worst staffing issues since the start of the shutdown.

From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, is well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.

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