What Led To More Than 800 Flight Cancellations In US? From Chicago To Houston, 40 Airports Witness Chaos Amid US Shutdown

Over 800 flights were cancelled in United States even as the flight reduction announced in 40 airports in the United States such as in New York, Los Angeles and SanDiego will take effect on Friday, November 7. 

This follows an order by the Federal Aviation Administration that there should be a 4 per cent flight cut at 40 airports in the US to reduce the traffic commencing Friday in spite of operations still being affected because of the government shutdown. 

Over 800 Flights Cancelled in US

According to the CNN report, after the FAA order, some of the largest airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights scheduled to be flown today, and the required reduction will rise to 10 per cent next week should the shutdown be continued.

Friday morning cancellations of flights totaled 800 at approximately 4.30 am ET Friday, four times as many as were cancelled a day before, according to FlightAware data. Thursday cancellations were at 201.

A number of airlines have guaranteed customers a full refund on tickets for the cancelled flights.

FAA Orders 4% Flight Cut Across 40 Airports

In the meantime, there have been warnings by the FAA that the shutdown might impact up to 4,000 flights in a day unless the shutdown is called off, and the control towers at the airports were struggling because of the absence of air traffic controllers, as reported by BBC.

On Wednesday, the US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the flight cuts in a presser. It will result in further cancellations, he said, but we will make the airlines systematically do this.

Although the media is extremely silent on the new action, there are certain points regarding the plan of the US government, as per a report by Bloomberg.

People who are acquainted with the issue have reported that airlines have been told that the flight reductions ought to be between 6 am and 10 pm. The citizens declined to be listed when such information has not been published yet, as reported by Bloomberg.

Otherwise, government officials have informed carriers that the flight cuts would begin at 4 per cent then increase to 10 per cent sometime next week. These cuts are, however, reported to have been announced by the officials to be spared on international flights.

A report issued by Sheila Kahyaoglu, an analyst of Jefferies, notes that the big four airlines operating in the US, and which serve the largest hubs in the country, are likely to be hit the most during November and December.

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