Since early Friday morning, the United States Air Authority (FAA) has ordered the cancellation of 851 flights at the 40 main airports in the United States. In addition, 1,686 have been delayed, bringing the total number of people affected to more than 2,500. The aircraft traffic restrictions announced earlier this week attempt to address the saturation of the country’s air system caused by the government shutdown, which has now reached 38 days. The reason for this blockade, which is already the longest in the history of the United States, is the inability of Republicans and Democrats to agree to extend the budget.
The aviation analysis company FlightAware estimates that 851 flights of the nearly 25,000 scheduled this Friday in the United States have been canceled this Friday. On a typical Friday, about 200 flights are canceled in the country. When there are adverse weather conditions, cancellations multiply. In total, more than 100,000 travelers have been affected. The main airports affected are those in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver, according to statistics compiled by FlightAware.
The administrative blockade has dozens of federal agencies closed or with low activity due to lack of funds. The almost 13,000 air traffic controllers and thousands of airport security workers have not been paid since October 1 due to this situation. Many have decided to take sick leave to look for another source of income with which to pay the mortgage, the car loan, their children’s school or, simply, to be able to bring food home, as acknowledged a few days ago by the Secretary of Transport, Sean Duffy.
The restrictions caused by the federal shutdown don’t just affect airports. Some 42 million people who depend on public aid to obtain food are being affected by the cut in public funds.
Restricting air traffic increases pressure on Republicans and Democrats to end the government shutdown. The leaders of the main parties try to negotiate this Friday at the Capitol, but the positions remain distant. Republicans are beginning to get desperate, but they continue to refuse to divert more funds to finance health insurance, as Democrats are calling for.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is putting pressure on his party to end the government shutdown. Polls show wear and tear on the White House tenant. Citizens blame him for the lack of agreement and funding cuts in dozens of state agencies. Tens of thousands of civil servants have not received their salaries for more than a month.
The electoral setback he suffered last Tuesday also works against him. The socialist Zohran Mamdani won the mayor of New York. His party also won races to govern Virginia and New Jersey. The victory has given the Democrats encouragement to maintain their position in the Senate.
Airlines have tried to anticipate by canceling many flights on Thursday. The situation at the affected airports is not far from that of a normal day. Although there are some travelers who are outraged because they have just found out about the cancellation of their flights. Airlines have assured that the majority of their customers will not be affected. Those who want to change the flight or cancel it will have the right to a full refund of their ticket. International flights are not affected.
The country’s largest airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta, are the most affected by the cancellations, with 221, 184 and 173 flights canceled respectively, according to the air traffic data analysis platform Cirium. SkyWest, the largest regional airline in the United States, has suffered 172 cancellations, 6% of its total flights, according to the CNN channel.
The plane cancellations began this Friday at six in the morning, East Coast time, and will last until midnight. The authorities have explained that this Friday 4% of the total scheduled flights will be affected. Over the next week, cancellations will gradually increase until reaching 10% next week.
“This decision is not a political issue, but rather a decision to evaluate the data and mitigate the risk posed to the system by the fact that controllers continue to work without pay,” said the US head of Transportation this Thursday.
Duffy justified the restrictions on air traffic with the need to ensure safety. “We have to take unprecedented measures because we are in an unprecedented situation with the government shutdown.” Duffy guaranteed that there is currently no risk to air safety, but justified the flight limitations to ensure that air traffic is not compromised.
Negotiations in the Senate
Trump has asked his people to eliminate the Senate rule that allows the processing of laws to be delayed until a minimum of 60 votes is obtained. Although Republicans have the majority in the chamber with 54 seats, it is not enough to pass the extension law and they need support from Democrats.
“Republicans, end parliamentary obstruction and recover the American dream. If you don’t, the Democrats will, and you will never hold public office again!” Donald Trump wrote this Friday on his Truth social network.
Some Republican leaders in the chamber are reluctant to Trump’s idea of ending the parliamentary filibuster, as the 60-vote rule is known, because they believe that when Democrats have a majority they will be able to approve all the rules they want without control. They look to the mid-term elections, which will be held next year, and in which part of the Senate is renewed. Then the Republicans could lose their majority and Trump could see his power curtailed.
