Flight reductions announced by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration started on Friday as the government shutdown continues, with Canadian airports bracing for “knock-on impacts.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is cutting capacity for flights by 10 per cent at 40 major U.S. airports starting Friday, the department said in a statement.
“FAA’s announcement to reduce the capacity of the National Airspace System in response to staffing shortages because of the government shutdown will impact domestic travel in the US,” Monette Pasher, president of the Canadian Airports Council, told Global News in a statement.
“Canada’s airports will continue to monitor developments for any potential knock-on impacts on Canadian inbound and outbound flights to and from the United States.”
Hundreds of flight cancellations spread across the U.S. on Friday as airlines began complying with the Federal Aviation Administration’s unprecedented order to scale down routes nationwide because of the government shutdown.
The list of affected airports has not been released publicly but The Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing a copy of the list reportedly shared with airlines and obtained by the wire service, that airports impacted cover many of the busiest regions across the U.S. — including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Orlando, Fla., Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Calif.
In some of the biggest cities — such as New York, Houston and Chicago — multiple airports were set to be among those affected, the AP reported.
Some flights between Canada and the United States, operated by Porter, have also been disrupted, the Canadian airline told Global News in a statement.
“Flights in and out of the U.S. have been disrupted due to FAA staffing shortages causing delays in some Porter markets,” a Porter spokesperson told Global News on Thursday.
“Our team is managing the disruptions and we encourage passengers to check their flight status at www.flyporter.com before leaving for the airport,” the statement added.
The FAA said the reductions would start at four per cent and ramp up to 10 per cent a week from Friday. They are to be in effect between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. eastern and will affect all commercial airlines.
The agency said the cuts are necessary to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who have been working without pay for more than a month.
Many are pulling six-day workweeks with mandatory overtime, and increasing numbers of them have begun calling out as the financial strain and exhaustion mount.
The U.S. flight cancellations and government shutdown may leave some Canadians wondering how that might impact their travel plans.
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In August alone, 608,800 Canadians took return air trips from the U.S., according to Statistics Canada.
Air Canada said it is “awaiting more details on the planned reductions.”
“At this point, we are maintaining our normal schedule but for customers who may be connecting onto U.S. domestic flights operated by our partner, United Airlines, we have put in place a goodwill policy to allow them to change or defer their travel with no change fee,” the airline said in a statement.
WestJet told Global News that its operations have not been impacted yet by the shutdown, but added that it is “continuing to monitor the situation and proactively manage our operations to minimize any potential disruptions going forward.”
NAV Canada, the agency in charge of air traffic control in Canada, says it does “not anticipate any disruption to the provision of Canadian air navigation services as a result of the current government shutdown in the United States.”
“We continue to monitor cross-border operations closely and are maintaining regular coordination with our counterparts to ensure the safe and efficient management of air traffic within Canadian airspace,” NAV Canada told Global News in a statement.
Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto said it has “not noticed any impact” on its operations, while Halifax International Airport is advising any passengers travelling to the U.S. to check their flight status with their airline.
Montréal-Trudeau International Airport said the airport is “fully operational, but of course, our teams are monitoring the situation closely, in collaboration with our partners.”
Edmonton International Airport warned that some Canadian travellers might face disruptions.
“This reduction may cause disruptions for Canadian travellers, and we encourage all travellers to check the status of their flights with their airline before coming to the airport,” a spokesperson for the airport told Global News in a statement.
The Vancouver Airport Authority told Global News that while the flight reductions “primarily” impact domestic travel in the U.S., “the integrated nature of how airlines utilize aircraft and crew does have the potential for knock on effects to routes between Canada and the United States.”
Airlines scrambled to adjust their schedules and began cancelling flights Thursday in anticipation of the FAA’s official order, while travellers waited nervously to learn if their flights would take off as scheduled.
“We are operating today over 6,000 flights,” David Seymour, chief operating officer for American Airlines, told ABC’s Good Morning America.
“Now we’ve had to cancel as part of this directive 220 flights today and that will be the same number through the weekend, until we start ramping up. We have been working tirelessly throughout, around the clock, to ensure that we’re minimizing the disruption to our customers.”
Airlines directed passengers with plans into the weekend to check apps to learn their flight status.
Hertz is reporting a sharp increase in one-way car rentals in the U.S. One-way reservations have spiked more than 20 per cent through the weekend, compared with the same period last year.
“We join the airlines in urging Congress to swiftly pass a clean continuing resolution and restore certainty for travelers,” Hertz CEO Gil West wrote. “Every day of delay creates unnecessary disruption.”
Delta Air Lines said it would scratch roughly 170 flights Friday, and American Airlines planned to cut 220 a day through Monday.
Many of the routes slashed on Friday were shuttle flights in the northeast and Florida, along with those between Dallas and smaller cities, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
— with files from The Associated Press