Washington, DC (EFE).- Three of the major US airlines announced Friday that they will cancel nearly 700 flights starting Saturday to comply with the 4 percent reduction in activity at the country’s major airports, which went into effect to mitigate the shortage of air traffic controllers caused by the longest government shutdown in history.
Southwest Airlines said it will cancel 100 flights on Saturday and another 150 on Sunday at 24 airports across the country, adding in a statement that the vast majority of its flights scheduled through Monday will be affected by the capacity reductions and that they are seeking to minimize the impact on customers.
Meanwhile, United and American, the major US airlines, confirmed that each will cancel 220 domestic flights this weekend nationwide, prioritizing available capacity on international flights.
United also told CNN that it has already scheduled a reduction of 190 flights for Monday and another 269 for Tuesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported staffing problems at O’Hare and the airports in Ontario, California, and Newark, New Jersey, which serves New York and has consistently suffered from a shortage of controllers in recent weeks, even having to temporarily suspend all weekend operations.
The shutdown has already resulted in the loss of 2,000 air traffic controllers who, according to authorities, have taken leave or taken temporary jobs due to lack of pay.
Controllers are working “six days a week, ten hours a day,» said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday, who insisted that this pressure on these professionals has resulted in figures that, «while not alarming, were still concerning,» and therefore defended the reduction as a way to anticipate the problems.
Democrats are conditioning the extension of subsidies to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which are set to expire at the end of the year, on their support for the measure to end the shutdown. The Republican majority (53) needs votes from the opposition (45) for the proposal to pass with the necessary 60 votes. EFE
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