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The Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that flight reductions will freeze at 6% thanks to strong staffing levels and a “rapid decline” in air traffic controller callouts.
The new emergency freezing order will scrap the previous plan to ramp up reductions to 10% by Friday, and will remain in place “as the FAA continues to assess whether the system can gradually return to normal operations,” the Department of Transportation said.
Officials attributed the freeze to favorable staffing conditions, with just 11 staffing triggers reported on Tuesday and four on Wednesday — down from a high of 81 on Saturday. Those strong staffing numbers “suggest a further ramp up in-flight reductions are not necessary to keep the traveling public safe,” the Transportation Department said.
The 6% reduction impacts flights at 40 high-traffic airports, including those in the New York area and in cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Aviation officials appeared optimistic ahead of the House of Representatives’ Wednesday evening vote that passed a bill to end the government shutdown. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.
“As the federal government reopens and controllers receive their backpay, the FAA will continue to monitor staffing levels and review key trend lines,” the Transportation Department said. The cuts were put in place to alleviate pressure and strain on pilots and air traffic controllers — federal employees who have gone without pay for more than a month.
Airlines for America, a trade association whose members include American, Delta, United, Southwest Airlines as well as UPS, applauded the House vote to reopen the federal government.
“The shutdown has caused significant disruptions for the traveling and shipping public and added stress on our nation’s air traffic controllers and TSA officers who have been working without pay for 43 days,” the group said. “Reopening the government will allow U.S. airlines to restore their operations ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday.”
American Airlines also praised the reopening of the government.
“With the government reopening, our hardworking government aviation safety and security professionals will be paid, and the flying public will have deserved travel predictability. American is ready to get the country moving again,” the airline said.
As of Wednesday evening, 900 flights within the U.S. had been canceled and more than 2,000 had been delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. It is not clear how many of the flight cancellations and delays are the result of weather instead of the FAA mandate.
It remains unclear how quickly the system can be righted once the government reopens, as flight schedules are typically laid out in advance. The FAA did not respond to a request for comment on this matter sent Tuesday afternoon.
The airlines have said they think it could take a few days, once the government reopens and the FAA gives the green light to return to their normal cadence.
David Seymour, the chief operating officer of American Airlines, told NBC News that the quick return to normal operations will depend on “working with the FAA to ensure that we maintain the safety of the system.”
He added that “with Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s going to be super important that we’re there, able to deliver to our customers.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that aviation safety is at risk, and labor shortages are to blame for the flight cancellations and delays. If there are not enough employees to man the skies, the FAA must adjust the schedule to ensure planes in flight reach their destinations safely.
Air traffic controllers will receive back pay when the shutdown ends and are expected to get about 70% of their missed pay within 48 hours of the government reopening, with the remaining 30% coming within that week.
The FAA began reducing flights from major airports by 4% on Nov. 7 and has gradually increased that percentage throughout the week. The reduction in flights was supposed to reach 10% by Friday.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday that the airline cut 2,500 flights last week, which “is going to cost Delta a significant amount.”
Travelers were increasingly frustrated that their plans are being thwarted.
“I don’t trust any airports. I don’t trust any of this stuff anymore. I have totally lost faith,” one traveler told NBC News.
Some airlines, like United, are doing what they can to alleviate customer stress.
In a letter to the company, United CEO Scott Kirby wrote that the airline has given “our customers as much notice and flexibility as possible knowing the circumstances were ever-changing,” like publishing the list of cancellations on a dedicated website, using the app to alert customers of alternative flights to get them to their destinations and offering refunds to all customers — even if their flights had not been canceled.
Also complicating matters is inclement weather this week.
Freezing temperatures across two-thirds of the country and lake-effect snow are to blame for a cold, messy start to the week, and a heavy storm will bring rain and wind to the West Coast starting Wednesday.
