Airlines Optimistic About a Quick Recovery Ahead of Thanksgiving Once FAA Ends Flight Cuts
Airlines are optimistic they can resume normal operations just a few days after the government lifts its order to cut some flights at 40 busy airports, but it’s not clear how soon that will happen even though the federal shutdown is over.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday night that airlines won’t have to cut more than 6% of flights at those airports because air traffic controller staffing has improved significantly in the last few days. Originally, the order that took effect last Friday called for those flight cuts to increase to 8% Thursday and top out at 10% on Friday.
A number of air traffic controllers missed work while they were going without pay during the shutdown, and the spike in understaffing at airport towers and regional control centers prompted the flight-cut order due to safety concerns. The existing shortage of several thousand controllers is so severe that even a small number of absences in some locations created problems.
Officials at the FAA and the Transportation Department didn’t offer any updates Thursday morning about when they will decide to lift the order. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said the decision will depend on the safety data that FAA experts are monitoring.
The airlines insist they’ll be ready and expect normal operations to resume within three or four days after the order is lifted. Some experts, however, have warned that the disruptions could linger longer and potentially affect Thanksgiving travel, making it hard to predict whether airlines will recover as quickly as they typically do after a major snowstorm leaves planes and crews out of position.
Airlines focused their cuts on smaller regional routes to minimize strain on major hubs. By late Thursday afternoon, only a little more than 1,000 flights had been canceled nationwide. Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that nearly 95% of all flights Thursday were on time.
“We are eager to resume normal operations over the next few days once the FAA gives clearance. We look forward to welcoming 31 million passengers—a new record—to our flights during the upcoming Thanksgiving travel period, beginning next Friday,” the Airlines for America trade group said Thursday.
Duffy has said that controllers and other FAA employees should receive 70% of their back pay within 24 to 48 hours of the shutdown’s end, with the remainder arriving over the next couple of paychecks. The financial strain pushed some controllers to find side jobs to make ends meet and call out while dealing with stress.
Staff shortages hit their peak last Saturday when 81 FAA facilities warned they were running low on workers, forcing airlines to cut additional flights. By Thursday morning, the FAA was no longer listing staffing warnings at airports or radar facilities across the country.
There has been discussion about offering both air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers $10,000 bonuses for working during the shutdown. Duffy has suggested the bonuses might go only to controllers who never missed a shift, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she planned to give bonuses to any officers who went “above and beyond” while working without pay. She handed out several checks at a Thursday news conference.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and Chief Operating Officer David Seymour told employees in a letter Thursday that they have already seen improvements as controller staffing stabilized over the last day, even though more flight cuts will be required until the FAA lifts the order. They said travelers should already be seeing fewer delays and cancellations.
The executives said they believe American’s planning and efforts to minimize disruptions will help the airline rebound quickly and “deliver a strong Thanksgiving operation,” saying millions of travelers “deserve the certainty.”
