Airlines likely to adjust load to accomodate passengers as US orders flight reductions, expert says

Airlines likely to adjust load to accomodate passengers as US orders flight reductions, expert says

Now, across the United States, travelers are bracing for chaos as the government shutdown enters its second month. The Federal Aviation Administration plans to slash flights by 10% at 40 major airports. That includes JFK in New York, Los Angeles International, and O’Hare in Chicago. The idea is to ease mounting pressure on unpaid, overworked air traffic controllers. United Airlines, and Delta will offer refunds and urge passengers to stay updated via apps. Officials warn though that even if the shutdown ends, full flight operations won’t bounce back immediately due to lingering safety and staffing shortages. Simon Morates reports. If the US government shutdown continues, domestic flights from some 40 of the country’s busiest airports may be cancelled. Since its start on October 1st, hundreds of thousands of government employees have been furled, but others are expected to work without pay until the budget impass is resolved. That is the case for 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 transportation security agents. Faced with missed paychecks and an increased workload with some working 6 day weeks, more and more are absent from work, forcing transportation authorities to reduce flights. data what we find our implement are issues of fatigue and that our flight controller our flight controllers are experiencing and we the Federal Aviation Administration reported that 20 to 40% of air traffic controllers at the AY’s 30 largest airports were failing to show up for work. The proposed plan will reduce flights from Friday starting with 4% with a gradual increase to 10%. The move is unprecedented but necessary according to authorities. It’ll be frustration. Uh we are working with the airlines. Uh they’re going to work with passengers. But in the end, our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible. The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights according to an estimate by an aviation analytics firm. Government officials said that names of the affected airports, all high volume locations will be released on Thursday. Let’s unpack this further with Michael McCormick, air traffic management program coordinator at Embry Riddle Aeronautics University at Daytona Beach. Thank you so much for joining us, Michael. These air traffic controllers, you have some of the best experience with what they are going through right now. just uh speak to me about the uh situation facing them working over time and what this is going to mean on the ground in terms of airplane safety if they are required to still work and uh what they’re going through if you can just tell us that. What we have in the United States air traffic control system is a system that was under stress prior to the government shutdown. That the FAA was short over 3,000 controllers nationwide. Entering into the government shutdown then forced that stress system, those air traffic controllers to work long hours, overtime, six day work weeks. Therefore, their time for relaxation, recovery, and rest has been cut short. So, on top of that stress, you add the personal stress of not getting paid. This means those air traffic controllers are worried about how am I going to afford the payment on my house? How am I going to afford to pay tuition for my son or daughter? How am I going to be able to afford the fuel I need to drive back and forth to the air traffic control facility? This additional personal stress on top of the on the job stress has created untenable situation for many of those controllers and they have to make that difficult decision. Do I come to work when I’m not 100% focused, rested, and able to do my job? And many of them have said, “I need to take some time off. I need to recover.” And that’s what we’re seeing since the government shutdown October 1st. Is it too far to say that these flight cuts could actually then in turn be preventing a major accident from happening? One of the aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration is that safety is their first priority and remains the first priority even during the government shutdown. So, as these controllers have been unable to come to work and it has impacted staffing levels, the Federal Aviation Administration is able to monitor the flights going into and out of those airports where there are staffing constraints and they’re able to dial down the number of flights going into those airports or airspace to ensure that safety remains the highest level possible. And the need to draw down 10% of the flights at 40 major airports across the United States is not a new concept. The FAA utilized this last summer going into this summer in the New York metropolitan airports due to staffing constraints in the New York metropolitan area. And it worked. And the airlines were able to draw down 10% of their flights without impacting their passengers. And they do that by a process known as upging. In other words, if you fly larger aircraft, you cut the number of flights, but you’re still able to provide the same level of service to your passengers. And that’s what I expect the airlines are looking at right now. How do we then schedule our flights? How do we look at our aircraft that are flying those flights? And how do we upgage some of those aircraft in order to make up for those loss of flights? Well, we’re looking at major disruptions nonetheless, a 10% decrease up to 1,800 flights. Uh, how do you expect them to then do exactly what you mentioned there? Do are we expecting this to start off with smaller aircrafts uh in terms of the the flight reduction or will the big aircrafts, these big Boeings or Airbuses also be affected? I expect that the airlines are going to take a look at what’s known as their load factor. how many passengers they have on board the aircraft and they’re going to look at the type of aircraft. So, small numbers of passengers and those are flights to look at first. Like for instance, early morning flights or late flights at night. So, if you’re flying 10 flights a day and your early morning flight only is 50% full, that’s a good candidate for a flight that can be cancelled. You reached your 10% goal for a day and then you move those passengers to another flight. So, I expect that’s what the airlines are going to be looking at and that’s what they’re going to start implementing with the 4% reduction that’s currently into place tomorrow. Nonetheless, passengers very much have to look at their applications and see those uh alerts from their airlines for any delays that might be impending. Michael McCormick, thank you so much for just uh helping us understand the effects of this government shutdown on the air travel situation in the United

The Trump administration has ordered flight reductions at major airports due to a shortage of air traffic controllers during the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Speaking on FRANCE 24, Michael McCormick, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for B.S. in Air Traffic Management at Embry-Riddle University, says that airlines are likely to start adjusting their load to cope with the reduction in the number of flights.
#Shutdown #UnitedStates #Airlines

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