Flight cancellations appear to improve, but disruptions are not over yet

Flight operations in the United States appeared to improve Wednesday, with fewer scheduled cancellations on the sixth day of air travel disruptions, though airlines have warned it would take time for normal services to resume.

More than 810 flights — or 3.5% — have been canceled for Wednesday so far, according to aviation analytics company Cirium, down from previous days this week. But airlines are still preparing to make further cuts to their schedules under the plan laid out last week by the Trump administration. The 6% reduction in flight traffic that came into effect Tuesday is scheduled to grow to 8% by Thursday and 10 percent by Friday.

Many carriers said they are working to ensure customers have at least 24 hours’ notice if their flight will be disrupted and have been urging travelers to check their flight status before heading to the airport. American, Delta, Southwest and United are among those who informed passengers that they had completed adjustments to their schedules, including flight cancellations through Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy urged House members to act quickly to approve a deal to reopen the government or risk more air travel chaos in the days ahead — a scenario that could impact Thanksgiving travel, when an estimated 31 million people are expected to fly.

“You’re going to see this Friday, Saturday and Sunday … massively more disruptions than what we’ve come into this [past] weekend if the government doesn’t reopen,” Duffy said at a news conference. Thousands of flights have been canceled over the past five days, with a peak of almost 3,000 cancellations and more than 11,000 delayed flights on Sunday.

Though a bill to reopen the government has passed the Senate and is set to be taken up by the House on Wednesday, Duffy stopped short of giving a timeline for when the Transportation Department would allow airlines to fully resume operations.

“We’re going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel,” he said, though he noted that the agency already was seeing improvement with fewer facilities reporting staffing issues with air traffic controllers.

Duffy also raised the possibility that if the government does not reopen, the system could become so chaotic that some carriers might simply ground their planes. “I think we might find airlines that have to make decisions — do they keep flying?” he said.

Even if the bill passes, aviation experts warned that it will take time before operations return to normal. Airlines will need to rework their schedules and ensure that aircraft and crew members are in the right places.

Duffy also sought to tamp down concerns about whether air traffic controllers would receive back pay, promising that they would receive 70% of what they are owed 24 to 48 hours after the government reopens. They would be paid the remaining 30% within a week, he added.

Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said Tuesday that while controllers will be relieved they are receiving full paychecks, the impact of the shutdown will not easily be shaken off.

“We’ll have to continue dealing with the fallout of what the stress, the added stress and pressure that this has caused,” he said.

The disruptions that have rattled the system began late last week after the FAA ordered airlines to reduce their schedules at 40 major U.S. airports, beginning with a 4% rollback Friday. Administration officials said the move was driven by safety, not politics, and was necessary to alleviate the strain on air traffic controllers and other front line aviation workers who are reporting for work but not being paid.