US airlines cancel more than 2,500 weekend flights largely due to government shutdown

U S airlines canceled more than weekend flights by Saturday evening as the Federal Aviation Administration s mandate to reduce air traffic because of the administration shutdown proved no signs of easing The slowdown at multiple of the nation s busiest airports did not cause immediate widespread disruptions But it deepened the impact felt by the nation s longest federal shutdown We all advance We all have somewhere to be announced Emmy Holguin who was flying from Miami to see family in the Dominican Republic I m hoping that the authorities can take care of this Analysts warn that the upheaval will intensify and spread far beyond air journey if cancellations keep growing and reach into Thanksgiving week Already there are concerns about the squeeze on tourism destinations and holiday shipping Here s what to know about the flight reductions How plenty of flights have been canceled Cancellations jumped Saturday typically a slow trip day to more than following just over the previous day according to the tracking website FlightAware By the evening U S airlines already had canceled another -plus for Sunday Airports in Atlanta and Chicago as well as Charlotte North Carolina and Newark New Jersey saw numerous disruptions throughout the day Ongoing staffing shortages in radar centers and control towers added to the cancellations and delays at several East Coast airports including those around New York City Not all the cancellations were due to the FAA order and those numbers represented just a small portion of the overall flights nationwide But they are certain to rise in the coming days if the slowdown continues The FAA commented the reductions impacting all commercial airlines started at of flights at targeted airports and will be bumped up again Tuesday before hitting on Friday Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned this week that even more cuts might be needed if the shutdown continues and more air traffic controllers are off the job Why are the flights being canceled Controllers have gone without paychecks for nearly a month during the shutdown leading various to call in sick and compound previously existing staffing shortages The bulk are working mandatory overtime six days a week during without pay and specific are taking second jobs to pay their bills the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has noted On Saturday the union stated it had delivered handwritten letters from members to Congress calling for the shutdown to end How are passengers being affected Preponderance were relieved to find that airlines largely stayed on schedule Friday and those whose flights were called off were able to briskly rebook So far longer international flights have not been interrupted There is still a lot of uncertainty about which flights will be canceled next And not everyone has the means to pay for a hotel or deal with a last-minute disruption declared Heather Xu who was in Miami on Saturday after a cruise and flying home to Puerto Rico Journey is stressful enough Then you put these disruptions in place and it really makes everything more challenging she mentioned Rental car companies disclosed a sharp increase in one-way reservations Friday and a few people exclusively canceled flights altogether Diana Alvear of Bridgewater New Jersey scratched her family s trip next weekend to see in-laws in California because of concerns about flying when controllers are working long hours and understaffed She also was nervous about being stranded which would be a huge debacle for work United Airlines gave her credit for the airfare but the family is still out nearly for the deposit on an Airbnb This has been costly to us and it s a huge disappointment for us and our family Alvear mentioned It s really weighing on our hearts that we had to do this What could be the impacts beyond air excursion First there is the probable for higher prices in stores as nearly half of U S air freight is shipped in the bellies of guest aircraft Major flight disruptions could bring higher shipping costs that get passed on to consumers revealed Patrick Penfield professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University Further losses will ripple through the market system if the slowdown continues from tourism to manufacturing revealed Greg Raiff CEO of Elevate Aviation Group This shutdown is going to impact everything from cargo aircraft to people getting to business meetings to tourists being able to advance Raiff disclosed It s going to hit the hotel taxes and city taxes There s a cascading effect that results from this thing Associated Press journalists Cody Jackson in Miami Paul Wiseman in Washington Josh Funk in Omaha Nebraska and Anne D Innocenzio in New York contributed