US air travel could ‘slow to a trickle’ as shutdown bites: transport secretary
WASHINGTON: Air travel in the United States could soon “slow to a trickle,” authorities warned Sunday as thousands more flights were canceled or delayed and passengers faced chaos triggered by the federal government shutdown.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the number of flights being snarled or cut would multiply if the funding impasse between Democrats and Republicans continues while Americans gear up to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday later this month.
“It’s only going to get worse,” Duffy said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” a Sunday news talk show.
“The two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.”
On Sunday morning, more than 1,330 cancelations were recorded for flights within the United States and to and from the US, according to data from FlightAware, a flight tracking platform.
Airports that were particularly hard hit included the three New York City area airports, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
Duffy warned that many Americans planning to travel for the November 27 holiday “are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up.”
