The uneasiness Rodriguez feels about his plans rings true for millions of travelers across the country who have endured the 43-day record-long government shutdown. Still, FAA-mandated capacity reductions limit airports across the country as air traffic controllers begin to trickle back into work.<\/p>\n
As federal employees, including air traffic controllers and TSA agents, were not being paid during the shutdown, the number of people not showing up for work grew. According to an FAA press release on Nov. 6, the previous weekend reported 2,740 delays as a result of \u201cstaffing triggers.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, 72 flights at Sky Harbor were delayed, and another 56 had been canceled, according to\u00a0FlightAware.com<\/a>. Prominent airlines such as Southwest, American Airlines, and Frontier altered dozens of flights, according to the airport\u2019s database.<\/p>\n Inside Terminal 4 on Thursday, the departure board continued to flash various delays and cancellations.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford announced a new emergency order freezing flight reductions at 6% according to an FAA press release. Although the government is back in business, the status of air travel isn\u2019t back to usual just yet \u2013 the 6% flight freeze remains until further notice.<\/p>\n \u201cOur top priority at the FAA is, and always will be, safety,\u201d Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford said, according to a press release on Wednesday. \u201cThe data shows that controller staffing is improving rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump encouraged air traffic controllers to report back to work through a social media post on Truth Social<\/a> on Monday. He described the federal government stoppage as a \u201dDemocrat Shutdown Hoax\u201d and warned the air traffic controllers that they will be replaced by \u201ctrue Patriots.\u201d<\/p>\n The airport frenzy caused a trickle-down effect that went beyond even the passengers and those directly impacted by the shutdown, according to employees at Sky Harbor. John, 61, is a manager for the American Building Maintenance Company, working as an airport wheelchair assistance service at Sky Harbor.<\/p>\n Just after midnight on Nov 6, Sky Harbor saw 27 planes land, while according to John, that number is typically just a few. The influx of late arrivals has thrown ABM off its course.<\/p>\n \u201cPassengers are a little on edge, and everybody\u2019s just a little uptight about what\u2019s going on,\u201d said John, who asked Cronkite News not to use his last name, for fear of hurting his and his employees\u2019 ability to keep their work hours. \u201cWe need to take passengers off the plane, normally they\u2019ll be out at 10:30, now they\u2019re out at 12:30 or 1, so it\u2019s throwing everybody off.\u201d<\/p>\n The awkward flight times have hurt the income of his employees, many of whom receive tips from customers for wheeling them through the airport, John said. Fewer flights mean fewer tips.<\/p>\n \u201cA flight that they would\u2019ve normally had a passenger on and maybe got tipped now goes to the next shift,\u201d John said. \u201cIt\u2019s disrupting people\u2019s pay.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting through TSA has been a seamless experience, with Sky Harbor experiencing short wait times of under 10 minutes according to the airport\u2019s website; however, the long delays begin after passengers breeze through security.<\/p>\n Sky Harbor does not have information on a return timeline for controller staff or when FAA regulations will change. Public relations personnel, Monica Hernandez, advised passengers to continue to check online for flight updates.<\/p>\n \u201cPassengers should continue to confirm their flight status with their airline before coming to the airport,\u201d Hernandez told Cronkite News in a statement Thursday. \u201cGo to skyharbor.com<\/a>\u00a0for information on security checkpoint wait times, airline contact information, and amenities at the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the ongoing uncertainty, air travelers like Ben Thompson, 37, sympathize with those employees working without pay for 43 days and the uneasiness they\u2019ve lived with about their future. Federal employees could begin receiving retroactive pay, depending on pay periods, as early as Nov. 15, according to\u00a0Semafor.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI was praying earlier for all the people who aren\u2019t getting paychecks,\u201d Thompson said while checking his bags for a flight to Oakland. \u201c I might be inconvenienced by not traveling, but they\u2019re not getting paid, which means they\u2019re not putting food on their table, feeding their family.\u201d<\/p>\n
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