The biggest airline in the United States has a message for Donald J Trump.
The Trump administration is planning to cut 10% of air travel capacity at 40 of the country’s busiest airports— a move that analysts say will force airlines to cancel thousands of flights, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
It’s all to do with the current government shutdown, which started on October 1 due to a row over funding between Democrats and Republicans.
We’re now on day 36, making it the longest shutdown on record.
The US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the air traffic cuts were intended to ‘alleviate pressure’ on air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay since the start of the shutdown.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, are right now working without pay – or are on forced leave – because the US Congress has not agreed a federal funding budget.
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If it goes ahead, the flight cuts plan will take effect on Friday, November 7, potentially forcing hundreds of thousands of travellers to rebook and change plans.
American Airlines is now urging the White House to end the shutdown so it can serve passengers as it should.
An AA spokesperson told Metro: ‘We continue to urge leaders in Washington to reach an immediate resolution to end the shutdown.
‘We remain grateful to the air traffic controllers, TSA officers, and other federal employees who are working right now without pay — all to get our customers where they need to be safely — as well as our American Airlines team members who always work to take the best care of our customers.’
In a statement, the airline said it expects the ‘vast majority’ of its customers’ travel will be unaffected, and that there should be no disruption to long-haul international flights.
AA representatives will contact anyone who is impacted, and as always, all passengers are encouraged to check their flight status on the website or the mobile app.
As ‘disrupting customers’ plans is the last thing we want to do’, the airline has promised anyone whose flight is cancelled – and anyone who chooses not to travel on the affected dates – a refund or rescheduled booking.”
‘It is unusual,’ said FAA chief Bryan Bedford of the planned flight reductions, ‘just as the shutdown is unusual, just as the fact that our controllers haven’t been paid for a month is unusual.’
The flight reductions will be gradual, starting at 4% of domestic flights on Friday, then rising to 5% on Saturday and 6% on Sunday, before hitting the full 10% next week, Reuters reported, citing four unnamed sources.
Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, said cuts could be reversed if Democrats agreed to reopen the government.
The shutdown has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.
US officials said names of the affected airports – all high-traffic locations – would be released on Thursday.
Stay tuned for the list in full.
