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As the US government shutdown entered its 39th day, the Trump administration warned that travel “will slow down to a trickle” and many “won’t be able to go home for Thanksgiving”. According to FlightAware.com, over 4,200 flights traveling into, from and within the US have been delayed, and 1,500 flights have been canceled as of Sunday afternoon (local time). US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that many will not be able to spend Thanksgiving with their families if the government shutdown continues. “We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays, they want to see their family, they want to celebrate this great American holiday,” Duffy said, while speaking to American broadcaster CNN. “Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up. We have controllers who, again, are making decisions to feed their families, as opposed to coming to towers or TRACONs or centers and do their jobs,” he further added. Duffy feared that a “substantial amount” of Americans won’t get to be with their families for Thanksgiving. US airlines canceled more than 2,500 weekend flights by Saturday evening as the Federal Aviation Administration’s mandate to reduce air traffic because the government shutdown showed no signs of easing. Duffy highlighted that the goal of the flight reduction is to ensure safety. “The problem is that as I try to reduce the pressure by lowering flights, I have more controllers that keep not coming to work, and so the pressure goes back up again,” he said. “And so, I’m critically aware of that pressure of rising risk and trying to take that out of the system”. According to broadcaster NBCNews, over 600 flights were delayed at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport and over 320 flights were cancelled at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It added that Southwest Airlines has delayed 1,030 flights so far today and Delta has canceled almost 390.
