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BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport saw 27 more flight cancellations on Tuesday, on top of the dozens it saw over the weekend and on Monday, as travelers continue to wait for the government shutdown to end. Flight cancellations are escalating to 6% nationwide, and ramping up to 10% by the end of the week as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues. "Very nerve-wracking, checking on my phone all day today, whether or not Southwest, which is the airline I'm flying, is canceling the flight," said Ari Asag, from Columbia, Maryland, who's traveling to Chicago. Travelers at BWI Airport said they were glued to their phones on Tuesday, checking to see if their flight was canceled. "Mostly just a lot of worry that I was even going to be able to get home," said Mirabel Boctoi, who lives in Dundalk and is traveling to Buffalo, N.Y. "My mom's sick right now, so getting there was like the most important thing." Southwest Airlines says it canceled 155 domestic flights from its schedule nationwide on Tuesday, with another 145 canceled on Wednesday. American Airlines confirms it cancelled about 200 flights on Tuesday and Wednesday. Flights could still be affected for holiday travelers Even if the Senate-backed spending bill passes in the House chamber on Wednesday and the president signs it, these travel impacts could continue even into the holiday travel season. The Department of Transportation says certain safety benchmarks must be met in the sky and at the air traffic control tower before returning to a full flight schedule. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says air traffic controllers will likely be paid 70% of what they are owed within two days of the government reopening. For other aviation workers, who may be seeing less in their paycheck because of these flight cuts, there's no money to make up for their loss in pay. As November ticks on, many are now worried about the Thanksgiving travel season and whether the air travel disruptions could persist until then. The answer is still up in the air. Duffy says if the government stays closed, the industry can't look that far ahead. "We are not going to get to Thanksgiving. You're going to see this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday," Duffy said. "Big disruption thus far, massively more disruption as we come into the weekend if the government doesn't open." Impact on pilots, flight attendants While air traffic controllers and TSA now face their second pay cycle without a check, pilots could also feel the impact on their wallets. Joshua Schirard, a commercial pilot, says most get a base monthly pay and can earn more money by picking up flight hours and premium routes. "We're seeing a lot of that dialing back of those extra flights, and that availability for pilots to make that extra money," Schirard added. Flight attendants could also see a change in their pay. Schirard says most are paid per flight hour, meaning if they aren't able to pick up the same number of flights, their pay will be impacted. Air traffic control staffing concerns Another concern is major delays and ground stops because of air traffic controller staffing. These delays cut into a pilot's duty time, making it possible they time out and legally aren't allowed to fly. "He [a pilot] is getting backed up to his duty time for the day. He's likely to time out before his last segment, which means now we've got to find another crew," Schirard said.
