The FAA is making big plans to cut 10% of all flights at nearly 40 major US airports starting tomorrow.
This will take place unless a deal is reached to end the federal government shutdown, sources confirmed. The reduction is carried out amid massive safety concerns due to staffing gaps, where thousands of air traffic controllers and transport security admin officials were working without any kind of pay since the time that the shutdown started.
The goal is to ramp up the figure gradually beginning with 4% and then going up as necessary. So far, so decision was reached to include international flights.
The airports impacted are set to include the 30 busiest hubs such as those in New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta, LA, and Dallas.
The 10% cut could mean up to nearly 1800 flights and more than 268,000 airline seats were being removed from all schedules.
Some leading airlines such as United Airlines and American Airlines mentioned how they would be adjusting by focusing cuts on regional and non-hub routes while maintaining long haul and hub to hub operations.
Officials in the government also cautioned that if air-traffic conditions get worse, further restrictions might be imposed. This will entail potential partial closures of national airspace.
In essence, the direct impact of this shutdown on aviation safety and staffing has triggered a pre-emptive move by regulators, forcing leading airlines and travelers to brace for serious disruption until the issue gets resolved.