Hundreds of flight cancellations spread across the U.S. on Friday as airlines began complying with the Federal Aviation Administration’s unprecedented order to reduce service nationwide because of the government shutdown.
While the FAA order left some passengers scrambling to figure out backup plans, most were relieved to find their planes still on schedule as airlines slowly phase in reductions at the nation’s busiest airports.
The 40 airports selected for the slowdown by the FAA span more than two dozen states and include hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the order.
More than 800 flights were called off nationwide — four times the number canceled Thursday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions. Not all were due to the FAA order.
Airports in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas and Phoenix led the way with the most disruptions, FlightAware said.
Passengers face canceled flights, long lines
While many travelers changed their itineraries without too much inconvenience, others were less fortunate.
Karen Soika from Greenwich, Connecticut, found out Friday morning her flight out of Newark, New Jersey, was rebooked for an hour earlier. But she later learned her plane was actually leaving from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, instead, at least an hour away.
“I’m a surgeon, I’m used to chaos,” she said. She unsuccessfully tried to book a rental car to get to Utah for a weekend trip before settling on an option that seemed straight out of Hollywood.
“I’m going to U-Haul and I’m going to drive a truck cross country to get back to Utah,” said Soika, who is advising on medical scenes there for a spinoff of the TV series “Yellowstone.”
If strain on air-traffic controllers is the most worrisome fallout from the shutdown, leaving them without pay and leading to absenteeism, travelers must also contend with the extra burden being carried by airport security workers.
Passengers who showed up at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport early Friday faced security lines that seemed endless and at a standstill, prompting some people to lie down while they waited.
“It was snaking around all different parts of the regular area,” Cara Bergeron said after flying from Houston to Atlanta. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Airlines scramble to rebook passengers
Both United and American airlines said Friday they were able to quickly rebook most travelers. United spokesperson Josh Freed said more than half were scheduled to reach their destinations within four hours of their original plan.
“We’ve had a lot of success rebooking people is the bottom line,” he said.
The airlines focused their cuts on smaller regional routes to airports where they have multiple flights a day, helping minimize the number of passengers impacted.
American, as an example, reduced flights from Dallas to northwest Arkansas from 10 to 8 per day.
