{"id":363432,"date":"2025-11-08T01:20:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363432\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T01:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:20:13","slug":"passengers-cope-while-san-diego-other-airports-brace-for-more-canceled-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363432\/","title":{"rendered":"Passengers cope, while San Diego, other airports brace for more canceled flights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"San<\/a>San Diego International Airport. (File photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Anxious travelers across the U.S. felt a bit of relief at airports Friday as airlines mostly stayed on schedule while still\u00a0cutting more than 1,000 flights,<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plenty of nervousness remained, though, as more canceled flights are coming over the next week to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s order to reduce service at the nation\u2019s busiest airports, largely because of the\u00a0government shutdown.<\/p>\n

The order<\/a> is in response to air traffic controllers \u2014 who haven\u2019t been paid in nearly a month as the shutdown drags on \u2014 calling out of work in higher numbers as they deal with financial pressure.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s left some\u00a0passengers making backup\u00a0plans and reserving rental cars, the flights canceled Friday represented just a small portion of overall flights nationwide.<\/p>\n

Passengers still faced last-minute cancellations and long security lines at the\u00a040 airports<\/a>\u00a0targeted by the slowdown including in San Diego<\/a>, Los Angeles and Ontario, along with major hubs in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and Charlotte, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Airlines expect limited disruptions this weekend and stressed that international flights are not expected to be affected.<\/p>\n

But if the shutdown persists much longer, and more controllers call out of work after they miss their second paycheck on Tuesday, the number of cancellations could jump from the initial 10% reduction of flights to 15% or 20%, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Fox News on Friday.<\/p>\n

Officials later offered more details. Flight capacity at the affected airports will be cut by 4% beginning Friday, ramping up to 6% on Tuesday, 8% next Thursday and the full 10% by next Friday.<\/p>\n

Long lines and, for some, long drives<\/p>\n

Those who showed up before sunrise Friday at Houston\u2019s George Bush Intercontinental Airport faced security lines that barely moved, prompting some people to lie down while they waited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was snaking around all different parts of the regular area,\u201d Cara Bergeron said after flying from Houston to Atlanta. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others were less fortunate.<\/p>\n

Karen Soika from Greenwich, Connecticut, found her flight out of Newark, New Jersey, was rebooked for an hour earlier. Then she learned her plane was actually leaving from New York\u2019s John F. Kennedy International Airport, at least an hour away.<\/p>\n

Soika, a surgeon, unsuccessfully tried to book a rental car to get to Utah for a weekend trip before settling on an option that seemed straight out of Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to U-Haul and I\u2019m going to drive a truck cross-country,\u201d said Soika, who is advising on medical scenes there for a spinoff of the TV series \u201cYellowstone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hertz reported a sharp increase in one-way car rentals.<\/p>\n

Airlines scramble to rebook passengers<\/p>\n

More than 1,000 flights were called off nationwide Friday \u2014 five times the number canceled Thursday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.<\/p>\n

In San Diego, 27 flights had been canceled as of midday Friday, compared to two cancellations throughout the day Thursday. At LAX, a total of 54 inbound and outbound flight cancellations were reported as of mid-morning Friday, along with 148 flight delays. <\/p>\n

There were a total of nine cancellations all day at LAX on Thursday, according to FlightAware.<\/p>\n

Reagan National Airport was hit the hardest with at least 18% of its arrivals \u2014 81 flights \u2014 canceled Friday. The major hubs of O\u2019Hare, Atlanta, Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth rounded out the top five airports for cancellations, but those airports only lost around 3% of their flights.<\/p>\n

Not all the cancellations were due to the\u00a0FAA order,<\/a>\u00a0and both United and American airlines said they were able to quickly rebook most travelers.<\/p>\n

The airlines focused their cuts on smaller regional routes to airports where they have multiple flights a day, helping\u00a0minimize the number of passengers<\/a>\u00a0impacted.<\/p>\n

Delta Air Lines said it scratched roughly 170 flights Friday while American planned to cut 220 each day through Monday. Southwest Airlines cut about 120 flights Friday.<\/p>\n

If the shutdown continues, there may be more domino effects ahead of the holidays.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of all U.S. air freight is shipped in the bellies of passenger aircraft, so the disruption could raise costs for shipping goods, said Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University.<\/p>\n

\u201cAir travel is part of the infrastructure backbone of the American economy,\u201d said Greg Raiff, CEO of the Elevate Aviation Group consultancy. \u201cThis shutdown is going to impact everything from cargo aircraft to people getting to business meetings to tourists being able to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why is this happening?<\/p>\n

The FAA said the cuts are necessary to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers. Many are pulling six-day work weeks with mandatory overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to see the disruption. I don\u2019t want to see the delays,\u201d Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just outside of Washington.<\/p>\n

In addition, the FAA is also limiting commercial space launches and reentries to the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time. Parachute operations and photo missions near affected airports were also being prohibited.<\/p>\n

The FAA\u2019s order comes as the Trump administration\u00a0ramps up pressure<\/a>\u00a0on Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown.<\/p>\n

Ending the government shutdown would ease the situation for controllers, but the FAA said the flight cuts will remain in place until their safety data improves.<\/p>\n

Denver International Airport is working to fill in the gap, creating a food pantry for its federal employees and asking the FAA for permission to use the airport\u2019s revenue to pay for controllers\u2019 wages. The airport said Friday it has not heard back from the FAA yet.<\/p>\n

What can airlines and travelers do?<\/p>\n

Airlines are in uncharted territory, said Kerry Tan, a professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore who has studied the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe uncertainty associated with the government shutdown makes it challenging for airlines to rationally plan their response and optimize their flight operations,\u201d Tan said.<\/p>\n

Carriers are required to refund customers whose flights are canceled but not to cover costs such as food and hotels unless a delay or cancellation results from a factor within the control of the airlines, according to the Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople really should be thinking, \u2018What else can I do?\u2019\u201d said Christina Schlegel, a travel adviser from Arlington, Virginia . \u201c\u2019Can I already research some other potential flights? What other flights are out there?\u2019 Have that information in your back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

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