Copyright MassLive
With Congress expected to reach a deal soon to reopen the federal government after its longest shutdown in United States history, travelers likely expect airports to be back up and running at normal levels. However, it’s unclear how long it will take for airports to return to business as usual. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration has not said when it will lift cuts to air traffic that have caused flight cancellations and delays across the country. At Boston’s Logan International Airport, about 6% of normal flight volume was cut as of Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for Massport, the agency that operates the airport. That’s in line with the FAA’s directive, which is expected to go up to 8% on Thursday and 10% on Friday. The flight tracking website FlightAware recorded 44 cancellations and 72 delays on Wednesday as of 5:30 p.m. Which flights are cut or changed is decided by the airlines, according to the Massport spokesperson. “Airlines have been cancelling certain flights due to FAA flight reductions and have been reaching out to passengers directly,” they said in a statement. “We urge passengers to check with their airline before coming to the airport.” Read more: Here are your rights if your flight is canceled during government shutdown The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 due to a deadlock in Congress over Democrats’ insistence on extending health care tax credits for people who get insurance through the Affordable Care Act. This has left about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers across the country working without pay for more than a month, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. This has resulted in staffing shortages, which, in turn, have led to flight delays and cancellations. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week that he was ordering a 10% reduction in flights at 40 major airports to account for an air traffic controller shortage caused by the ongoing shutdown. Massport Aviation Director Ed Freni told WCVB-TV that it would “take some time” to get back to normal once the FAA restrictions are lifted, comparing the situation to “a major snowstorm.” “The airlines — however they were impacted — it will take some time, because their airplanes are out of whack. Their crews are out of position. All of that takes time," he told the news station. “I’m hoping that if they get the vote and they get things going, the airlines will have some time before the weekend to get it resolved.” During a press conference on Tuesday, Duffy said that air traffic controllers were beginning to return to work as they saw an end to the shutdown appearing on the horizon, which had eased some of the pressure on airlines. However, he said they were still seeing issues, and pilots were reporting lapses in communication with air traffic controllers. He did not give an estimate of how long it would take to return to normal staffing or traffic levels. “We’re going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel, that 6% we have in place right now,” Duffy said. “It depends on controllers coming back to work.” The U.S. Senate passed a funding package that would reopen the federal government late Monday night. The House is expected to vote on the package Wednesday night. The industry group Airlines for America encouraged Congress to pass the bill quickly to end the challenges to travel. “Airlines’ reduced flight schedules cannot immediately bounce back to full capacity right after the government reopens,” the organization’s leaders said in a statement. “It will take time, and there will be residual effects for days. With the Thanksgiving travel period beginning next week and the busy shipping season around the corner, the time to act is now to help mitigate any further impacts to Americans.”
