Copyright standard
British citizens in America risk being caught up in flight chaos after Donald Trump’s transport chief grounded planes for safety reasons due to an unprecedented government shutdown. US airlines were scrambling on Friday to cut 4% of flights at 40 major airports after the government imposed an unprecedented cut to air travel citing air traffic control safety concerns because of a record-setting government shutdown. The cuts, which began at 6am. ET (1100 GMT), include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, and are set to rise to 6% on Tuesday and then 10% by November 14 if the shutdown does not end. The cuts do not apply to international routes but it was not clear if they could have a knock-on impact, with delays, to trans-Atlantic flights between the UK and US. Around 2000 flights into the US, out of the US or within America had been cancelled by early morning there, according to the BBC. Heathrow flights to and from America were not being affected mid-afternoon UK time. American Airlines boss Robert Isom does not expect significant disruption for customers from initial government-ordered flight reductions but warned that increased cuts would be “problematic.” “This level of cancellation is going to grow over time and that’s something that is going to be problematic,” he told CNBC. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ruled out ordering cuts to international flights. “We have international agreements that we have to abide by,” he said. “Because of those international agreements, I’m not going to impact those international flights.” The US government shutdown, which started on October 1, is now the longest in American history at 38 days. The government gridlock, which left some 1.4 million federal employees on unpaid leave or working without pay, was caused by a stand-off in Congress between Trump’s Republicans and Democrats over spending plans. Cuts in flights are expected to be less Saturday since airlines generally fly fewer flights on Saturdays. United Airlines said half of its impacted customers were able to be rebooked within four hours of their original departure time. The Federal Aviation Administration did not publish the list of airports impacted until 7.30pm ET Thursday, less than 12 hours before the cuts took effect, and largely rejected concerns airlines raised after they received a draft order. Airlines were also dealing with the fallout from continuing air traffic controller absences as the FAA slows flights to address staffing issues. Earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said 20-40% of controllers were not showing up for work on any given day. During the record long 38-day government shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay. The FAA on Friday imposed ground delay programmes slowing flights at Austin and Reagan Washington National due to staff shortages. The FAA is restricting space launches as well. It also warned it could reject specific cuts if they disproportionately impacted certain communities and could cut up to 10% of general aviation flights at high-traffic airports if staffing issues arose.
