Cincinnati is among the airports that will see a reduction in flights at the end of the week due to the impacts of the ongoing federal government shutdown, according to news reports.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in a news conference Wednesday there will be a 10% reduction in flights at 40 major airports but he did not say which airports would see cuts.
Duffy did not specify how long these restrictions might last but officials stated that they will begin on Friday morning, Nov. 7, USA TODAY reported.
The list of airports, obtained by ABC News and CBS News, includes Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International and airports in Louisville and Indianapolis. No Ohio airports are on the list.
Officials at CVG said Nov. 5 they did not have information on how the cuts would impact the airport and refereed questions to the Federal Aviation Administration, which did not respond to an email seeking information.
CVG’s flight information list on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 6, did not show any cancellations or unusual delays. TSA wait times posted at 6:15 a.m. were under 5 minutes.
Duffy’s comments came two days after he warned there could be far-reaching flight cancellations and disruptions to air travel, pointing to the pressure on the country’s air traffic controllers.
“I think it’s going to lead to more cancellations, but we are going to work with the airlines to do this in a systematic way,” Duffy said Nov. 5 in response to reporters’ questions.
“This is data-based,” he added. “This is not based on what airline travel has more flights out of what location. This is about where is the pressure and how do we alleviate the pressure.”
Officials said they will work with the airlines to figure out how to implement the reductions. “We’re trying to be prescriptive, surgical, put the relief where the relief will do the most good,” said Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford during the news conference. “Again, we’re not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air travel in the United States.”
Airports affected by government shutdown
CBS and ABS news websites posted the list, obtained from sources, of airports that would see cuts. The list includes passenger airports, airline hubs, airports with heavy cargo traffic also Teterboro, New York, which CBS says is frequented by private jets and other general aviation traffic.
The flights impacted by reductions are scheduled during 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to ABC News.
International flights are exempt from the cuts, the source told ABC News. A final list of airports and the FAA order with details is still in the works and is expected to be issued Thursday, according to the report.
List of airports which will see flight reductions, in alphabetical order by airport code:
How does the shutdown affect air traffic controllers?
Air traffic controllers and many other Federal Aviation Administration employees are considered essential workers, so they’re required to report for duty even though they’re not earning paychecks during the government shutdown.
While employees at both agencies are expected to get back pay for the duties they performed once the shutdown ends, many advocates say going weeks without pay puts them under additional stress and can result in them having to find other ways to earn temporary income.
When air traffic controllers or Transportation Security Administration officers fail to show up for work, it can result in flight delays and longer security lines.
Bedford said during the news conference that air traffic controllers continuing to work during the shutdown are covering longer hours and more days. “We are starting to see some evidence that fatigue is building in the system in ways that we feel we need to work towards relieving some of that pressure,” he said.
“Many (air traffic controllers) are already working six days a week, and now they are facing the impossible choice of taking on extra jobs just to feed their families. Meanwhile, Congress is leading us towards what could be the longest shutdown in our nation’s history, and introducing risk into an already fragile system,” National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels said in a statement Oct. 29.
FAA staff shortages
The FAA has had longstanding staffing shortages, with controllers in many facilities working mandatory overtime to compensate.
The Department of Transportation, under multiple administrations, has attempted to address the shortage but has struggled to attract sufficient numbers of recruits to the air traffic control organization.
Even before the shutdown began, staff shortages occasionally triggered flight delays.
This spring, following a series of equipment failures at Newark Liberty International Airport’s control facility, some air traffic control operators took time off to recover from the stress, leading to a spike in delays and cancellations at that airport.
Staff shortages have led to flow control programs to keep flights safe in other areas, too, like the airspace controlled by Jacksonville Center.
The shutdown may contribute to some of these staff issues as controllers need to find other sources of income, but it’s not necessarily the root cause of all the staffing-related problems in air travel even now.
USA TODAY reporters Kathryn Palmer, Kathleen Wong and Zach Wichter contributed.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Which 40 airports will be affected by cuts? Cincinnati CVG airport is on list, reports say
Reporting by Cheryl Vari and Gillian Stawiszynski, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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