The US government has lifted its emergency order to cut flights across the country, following the end of the government shutdown last week. This may lead to ease of travel during Thanksgiving.
Flight cuts being lifted may ease travel © Matthew Turner
High absence leads to safety concerns
Since the government shutdown in October, the number of absences among air traffic controllers has led to airports delaying or grounding flights. Air traffic controllers were required to work without pay because them being essential workers.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered airlines from November 7 to cut scheduled flights in order to prevent safety issues.
Thanksgiving: the busiest holiday for travel
Now that the shutdown has ended, the essential workers are back, just in time for Thanksgiving travel, the single busiest holiday for travel in the US.
It is estimated that more than 6 million people in the US are flying during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, has said:
“Controllers have returned to their posts, and normal operations can resume. Now we can refocus our efforts on surging controller hiring and building the brand new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system the American people deserve.”
The high number of absences of the essential air traffic controllers was seen as a startling consequence of the longest government shutdown in US history (43 days). Due to not being able to receive payment, many controllers were forced to take second jobs to make up for missing paycheques.
10% of flights were cut
The emergency order had called for up to 10% of US domestic flights to be cut. In the first week of November, the FAA was forced to issue an order to limit air traffic, leading to thousands of flights being cancelled and even more being delayed. For example, on November 9, the situation reached its peak as more than 10000 flights were delayed and 2900 were cancelled.
Moreover, during the FAA’s announcement, it noted that there were reports of some airline carriers not complying with the emergency order. Though the FAA have not shared which airlines allegedly failed to comply.
Air traffic controllers are now set to receive back pay with the end of the shutdown, and they no longer face threats of being fired for absences.
Were you affected by the government shutdown? Do share your experience in the comments.
