Copyright MassLive
While Boston’s Logan International Airport has so far avoided the level of flight delays and cancellations seen at other major airports during the federal government shutdown, that streak could be coming to an end. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a press conference Wednesday that he would order a 10% cut in flights at 40 major airports due to air traffic control staffing shortages. Logan is among those affected, according to Massport, the agency that operates the airport. The flight reductions will begin Friday and start at just a 4% cut, then work up to 10%, according to ABC. The affected flights are scheduled from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. International flights are exempt. The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 due to a deadlock in Congress over Democrats’ insistence on health care funding. It has become the longest shutdown in the country’s history. This has left about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers across the country working without pay for over a month, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. This has led to staffing shortages. “Our air traffic controllers, because of the financial pressures at home, are taking side jobs. They need to put food on the table, gas in the car, pay their bills,” Duffy said Wednesday. “We do not want to see disruptions at the FAA or at [Department of Transportation], but our number one priority is to make sure when you travel, you travel safely.” The specific cuts were based on data and “how to alleviate the pressure,” he added. A spokesperson for Massport said in a statement that the agency is awaiting more information on which flights will be affected. “For those traveling over the next few days, we do anticipate delays and cancellations and strongly urge passengers to check with their airline before coming to the airport,” Benjamin Crawley, media relations specialist, said. “Our federal partners have continued to come to work admirably under challenging circumstances, and we remain in close communication with them, as well as with our airline partners, to minimize disruptions and keep passengers informed.” Officials at Logan previously told MassLive that while other major airports had seen increased delays and cancellations, Boston’s air travel hub had not. Delays at the airport during the shutdown have been mainly due to weather conditions or ongoing construction on one of the runways, which is expected to continue through mid-November.
