UPDATE: Major flight cancellations are impacting travelers at O’Hare International Airport as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces a staggering 10% cut to flights due to a prolonged government shutdown and a critical shortage of air traffic controllers. This urgent development comes just hours into the FAA’s initial flight reductions, which already affected 4% of all U.S. flights on Friday.
Travelers at O’Hare expressed frustration and anxiety, caught off guard by last-minute cancellations. Jade Virdi, a 29-year-old traveler returning from a business trip to Milwaukee, had her flight canceled around 9 p.m. Thursday. She scrambled to re-book another flight, departing four hours earlier. “I’m frustrated,” Virdi said, empathizing with the controllers who have been working without pay since October 1. “If I wasn’t getting paid, I wouldn’t want to work either,” she added.
The FAA’s flight cuts are set to rise, impacting 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. United Airlines, the largest carrier at O’Hare, confirmed that Friday’s cuts accounted for roughly 20 round-trip flights, with expectations to increase to 50 flights by next Friday. The agency’s administrator, Bryan Bedford, stated that these cuts are necessary to alleviate increased staffing pressures and address safety concerns stemming from growing fatigue among air traffic controllers.
Despite the chaos, some travelers reported smoother experiences. A random sampling conducted by the Chicago Sun-Times indicated that the majority of passengers at O’Hare did not have their flights canceled. Peter Huskings, 49, who celebrated his 50th birthday in Chicago, described his security experience as the best ever, attributing it to the reduced number of flights.
In response to the ongoing situation, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy emphasized the importance of acting before reaching a crisis point. Travelers remain on edge, hoping their flights will remain unaffected as the FAA’s operational adjustments continue to unfold.
With the FAA’s confirmed plans to escalate flight reductions, travelers should remain vigilant and check their flight statuses regularly. The impact of these cancellations is expected to ripple across the U.S. aviation system, making this a developing story that travelers will want to monitor closely.
