More than 1,000 flights were canceled across the United States on Friday after the Trump administration ordered reductions to ease strain on air traffic controllers working without pay amid a federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forty airports were slated for the cuts, including major hubs in Atlanta, Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Republicans and Democrats in a bitter standoff, particularly over health insurance subsidies, federal agencies have been grinding to halt since funding lapsed on October 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many government employees, including vital airport staff, are either working without pay or furloughed at home, waiting for the now nearly six-week crisis to end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flight reductions are taking effect gradually, starting at four percent and rising to 10 percent next week if Congress still hasn't reached a funding deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 1,000 flights scheduled for Friday were canceled, according to tracking website FlightAware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most affected airports late Friday were Reagan National in Washington, Denver International and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, according to data analyzed by AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), travelers at Reagan National were seeing average delays of four hours, with 90-minute waits in Phoenix and one hour delays in Chicago and San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"This is frustrating. We don't need to be in this position,\" American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told CNBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The upheaval means ordinary Americans are now directly feeling the impacts of the Washington budget fight that has shut down much of the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed Democrats for the shutdown, saying they should vote to reopen the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"If Democrats are going to go home this weekend, and they've kept the government shut down, that's shameful,\" Duffy told reporters at Reagan National Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump on Friday also called on Senate lawmakers to remain in Washington until an agreement to end the shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans control Congress, but Democrats have said they will refuse to sign off on the majority party's budget plans, including severe healthcare cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- 'Hurting people' -<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flight reduction measures come as the country enters its busiest travel time of the year, with the Thanksgiving holiday just weeks away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"This will get serious if things drag on to Thanksgiving,\" retiree Werner Buchi told AFP at New York's LaGuardia airport as he waited for his daughter to arrive on a flight from Wilmington, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rhonda, 65 -- who arrived at LaGuardia without a hitch from Portland, Maine -- worried about holiday plans \"that could be ruined because people won't talk to each other. This is hurting a lot of people,\" she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
American Airlines said in a statement that its scheduled reduction amounted to 220 flight cancellations each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delta Air Lines said it was cutting about 170 flights scheduled for Friday, while broadcaster CNN reported Southwest Airlines axed around 100 flights set for that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 6,800 US flights were delayed Thursday with some 200 cancellations, FlightAware data showed, with passengers facing long lines at security checkpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- 'Safe to fly' -<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration sought to reassure people that flying remains safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"It's safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the proactive actions we are taking,\" Duffy said on social media late Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But many in high-stress aviation-related jobs are now calling in sick and potentially working second jobs to pay their bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 1,000 flights were canceled across the United States on Friday after the Trump administration ordered reductions to ease strain on air traffic controllers working without pay amid a federal government shutdown. Forty airports were slated for the cuts, including major hubs in Atlanta, Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. With Republicans and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":30984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,97],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-30983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangladesh","category-international","tag-46"],"yoast_head":"\n