More than 3,300 flights have been cancelled by airlines in the United States following a warning by the top transport official that air travel might “slow to a trickle” as a result of the current government shutdown.
The cancellations on Sunday came after Republicans and Democrats agreed to a stopgap deal to end the shutdown after the standoff over the legislation of a funding bill dragged to the 40th days.
The effect of the travel disruption is increasing as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given orders to reduce air traffic last week, with reports of fatigued air traffic controllers not showing up to work.
About 13,000 of the air traffic controllers (ATCs) considered to be “essential” workers under the US government regulations have also been made to work without pay since the shutdown began on October 1.
According to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware, more than 3,300 US flights were cancelled, and approximately 10,000 flights were delayed on Sunday.
More than 1,500 flights were cancelled on Saturday, in addition to the cancellation of approximately 1,000 flights on Friday.
In accordance with the FAA’s phased-in reduction in air traffic, airlines were directed to make cuts of 4 percent of domestic flights by 6 am Eastern Standard Time (11:00 GMT) on Friday.
However, the flights will be cut down by 6 percent on Monday, 8 percent on Thursday, and 10 percent on Friday.
US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, in a media interview on Sunday, cautioned that air travel might come to a halt in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday on November 27.
Duffy said to Fox News that “As we get closer to Thanksgiving travel, I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to have air travel slow to a trickle, as everyone wants to travel to see their families.”
Duffy stated that “It doesn’t get better. It gets worse until these air traffic controllers are going to be paid.”
The time of Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times to travel in the US calendar. The number of Americans who travelled throughout the Thanksgiving period in 2024 is estimated to be 80 million, and 3.09 million passengers were screened at airports on the Sunday following the holiday.
In a move to help curb the travel panic that had reached its peak at least in the United States on Sunday, senators in the US indicated that they had reached a compromise agreement that would allow the government to resume its operations until the end of January.
During one of its late-night sessions, the Senate voted 60-to-40 to overcome the filibuster and move forward with a funding package as a group of moderate Democrats switched over to the Republicans.
The Senate and the US House of Representatives have to approve the funding plan, and the US President Donald Trump has to sign the funding plan into law before the shutdown can be ended.
Eventually, it is unclear whether travel disruption could persist after the government reopens once again.
The FAA declared last week that it would make its decisions to raise its flight reductions based on “informed by safety data”. Therefore, Al Jazeera has approached the FAA to comment on the matter.
Managing Director of the Consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, Richard Aboulafia, stated that air traffic controllers have been skipping work because of pay, and the inconveniences would soon be resolved as soon as the shutdown ends.
Aboulafia added that some aviation analysts also suspect that the flight restrictions are an “arbitrary” step that is intended to create political pressure to end the government shutdown.
Aboulafia said to Al Jazeera that “The decision to restrict capacity was understandable if the facts and data support it.”
He further stated that “Secretary Duffy says the data does indeed support it, but he has not shared any of that data. People are right to be suspicious, particularly in light of other unnecessary cuts by the administration.”
