The US government says it will phase in a 10% reduction in domestic flights at 40 of its busiest airports over the next week.
The move follows increasing absenteeism among air traffic controllers and customs security (TSA) officers who are not being paid due to a government shutdown.
International airlines are not expected to be affected directly but domestic connecting services are likely to be, both the US government and carriers like Qantas say.
US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford addressed the media yesterday to outline the steps that are being taken.
“My department has many responsibilities but our number one job is safety,” Duffy says.
“This isn’t about politics – it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue to work without pay,” he told a press conference in Washington DC overnight.
“It’s safe to fly today and it will continue to be safe to fly next week because of the proactive actions we are taking.”
Duffy says they are “seeing signs of stress” in the system as more controllers turn to paid side-jobs after receiving no pay.
“We are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” says Bedford.
“The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.”
Media reports say more than 16,700 US flights were delayed and another 2282 cancelled last Friday to Sunday.
Social media is rife with videos of long crowds at airports waiting to go through TSA clearance with delay times of up to three hours reported.
MORE US MEASURES
A 4% reduction in flights will take effect on Saturday (Australian time), rise to 6% by November 12, 8% by November 14 and 10% by November 14.
The FAA will also prohibit some visual flight rule approaches (VFR) at airports with a staffing trigger, allow commercial space launches and re-entries only between 10pm and 6am (local time) and ban parachute operations and photo missions near airports with a staffing trigger.
The government says airlines will be required to issue full refunds but don’t have to cover secondary costs.
Affected airports include Baltimore/Washington, Ronald Reagan Washington National, Dallas/Fort Worth, Newark Liberty, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Honolulu International, Washington Dulles, Houston, New York John F. Kennedy, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, NY LaGuardia and Miami. Click here for the full list.
US AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
Duffy says the US is currently facing a shortfall of 2000 air traffic controllers, which existed before the shutdown.
He also says they are advancing new controllers by 20% through a training academy and offering retiring controllers a 20% cash bonus to stay on.
“The shutdown is having an impact on our ability to maintain those numbers and dent that 2000 shortage that we have,” he conceded.
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