Copyright The Boston Globe
Wary of the havoc the government shutdown is wreaking on the airline industry — forcing travelers to wait for hours on end, and strained air traffic controllers to work without pay — Callahan said the risks of flying were too great to ignore. So they will FaceTime their grandchildren instead. “It’s too far to drive, and we’re old,” said Callahan, 73, who lives in Dunstable. “It’s a heartbreaking event.” Callahan and his wife are far from the only ones whose itinerary has been disrupted as the federal stoppage persists. Mounting delays and cancellations at airports nationwide culminated this week with the Federal Aviation Administration announcing its plans to reduce air traffic by 10 percent in “high-volume” markets as a safety measure. Logan Airport in Boston is among the 40 airports targeted, and fliers were already feeling the impact on Friday. By 1:45pm this afternoon, airlines had cancelled 1,265 Saturday flights nationwide, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. Logan logged 28 total outbound and inbound flight cancellations — between two and three percent of the airport’s scheduled flight traffic in both directions, according to FlightAware’s tallies. With no end in sight, dozens of people told the Globe the shutdown has affected their plans in the coming days and weeks. Their reasons for travel include weddings being held hours away, memorial services for loved ones, visits to spend time with ailing parents, marathons that required months of training, long-anticipated vacations with friends, and work conferences. There were few signs of Washington’s chaos manifesting itself at Logan’s Terminal C departure concourse late Saturday morning. Passengers, in their usual fashion, lugged their bags through the terminal’s automatic sliding doors, cast disoriented glances around the floor to find the right check-in counter, and went on their way. Queues were short and flights, by and large, were on time. Still, for some, a sense of worry lingered. Kitty Naulls, 66 of Denver, sat and waited for her flight to Dublin, her next pit stop en route to a river cruise beginning in Vienna. “I’m worried about getting back home” later in the month, she said. Downstairs, the shutdown’s more punishing impacts revealed themselves. A TSA break room is tucked behind a nondescript door by a pair of bathrooms and a Dunkin’ Donuts. Late Saturday morning, agents carted in stacks of food— goods for a newly created food pantry for Logan’s TSA employees, who are working unpaid. “It’s sad and stupid,” said Mike Gayzagian, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2617, the union representing officers staffing security lines at Logan. Forfeiting travel plans, or the prospect of having to do so, left many frustrated, disappointed, and overwhelmed. Sarah Shomphe and her husband, who live in Charlestown, booked tickets to Chicago and a two-night hotel stay months ago for the bar mitzvah of a close family friend taking place in the area this weekend. On Thursday night, she said they received an alert notifying them their early morning flight out of Logan had been canceled. In the hours leading up to their rebooked flight on Friday evening, Shomphe, 45, said she was “maniacally” refreshing her American Airlines app, worried they would be unable to make it and have to eat the costs. Their flight was delayed another hour. The couple missed some of the scheduled activities, said Shomphe, who works in banking. Whether their return trip home goes as planned is another story. “If our flight is canceled or severely delayed, we’ve mapped a 14-hour trip. So we’ll just rent a car and drive back,” she said. But, she added, “if this doesn’t come to an end soon, more people than not will start screaming.” Out of fear of their flights being canceled, several people said they are making backup plans. At least one traveler said they booked a second flight on a different airline to minimize their chance of getting stranded. Many others said they are cautiously monitoring the evolving situation, as they weigh both safety and financial concerns. Larry D’Oench and his wife, who live in Montville, New Jersey, have given up their plan to fly to Miami. The couple was going to commemorate their 45th wedding anniversary in the city, where they had their first date. A retired pilot who formerly flew for the military, American Airlines, and corporate, D’Oench, 85, said they decided last week to forgo the trip after their flight was delayed an hour-and-a-half coming back from Chicago. “When something like this happens, it really causes chaos at the airlines because you’ve got all kinds of integrated problems that have to be dealt with,” he said. “A delay here turns into a catastrophe there.” Last January, after Gabriela Reyes Jusino and her roommate scored tickets to the Las Vegas Grand Prix — a Formula One race held on a street circuit that winds through the glossy strip — they booked their flights on JetBlue to “Sin City.” They are both huge fans of the sport, she said, particularly of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton. But with the event set for later this month — and the airline tickets non-refundable — Reyes Jusino, 27, said the pair began seriously considering their options if their flight is canceled on Thursday night. Maybe they make it a road trip. Or fly from Montreal in Canada instead, she said. At worst, they stay home and sell their race tickets. Reyes Jusino said they would be “devastated” if they couldn’t go. But, she added, “my problems are so small” compared to people who don’t receive their SNAP benefits. “People are starving and people are suffering unnecessarily,” said Reyes Jusino, an admissions counselor at a local university who lives in Brighton. Because of the chaos, Lyn Ketterer said she is facing the possibility of not celebrating Thanksgiving with her 90-year-old father in a few weeks. “He’s a pretty pragmatic guy,” she said, adding he told the family he would make his final decision on whether he would fly to Boston or not “based on how well things were running.” If the shutdown results in her father staying in Georgia, Ketterer said she will feel “incomplete and sad.” “We will miss him. ... There’s an empty spot at the table that shouldn’t be,” said Ketterer, 58, who lives in Cambridge and works in consulting. “And angry that it’s not necessary, like this should not be happening.”
