The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is slated to release a list on Thursday of the airports affected by the planned reduction in flight operations as the government shutdown stretches into a record 37 days.
FAA administrator Bryan Bedford announced on Wednesday that the FAA is reducing flights by 10 percent in 40 “high-volume markets” throughout the country. The cuts are slated to take effect on Friday and aim to keep the skies safe amid staffing shortages exacerbated by the ongoing lapse in funding.
“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,” Bedford said at a press conference Wednesday.
“The system is extremely safe today and will be extremely safe tomorrow,” he continued. “If the pressures continue to build even after we take these measures, we’ll come back and take additional measures.”
Air traffic controllers have been working without pay since the start of the shutdown on Oct. 1, and many have been working six days a week with mandatory overtime. Absences among controllers have increased amid shutdown, leading to travel disruptions nationwide.
As many as 1,800 flights and 268,000 seats could be affected, The Associated Press reported, citing an estimate from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
“The data is telling us we need to do more, and we are going to do more,” Bedford said. “And I want to reassure the American travelers that it is absolutely safe to fly in the American skies.”
The FAA chief and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday during a press conference that they planned to meet with airline executives later that day to determine how to implement the flight reductions before the full list would be released Thursday.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby released a letter Wednesday saying the airline shares the FAA’s goal of air safety and will continue working with the agency, which has “directed every airline to reduce their schedules during the government shutdown.”
The airline added that it would update its schedule on a rolling basis and confirmed the cuts will begin on Friday.
