Air travelers came and went mostly without trouble at Denver International Airport on Friday, expressing gratitude for federal air traffic controllers working without pay, ready to adapt as flight reductions ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration kicked in.
But the impacts of the government shutdown at DIA and other major hubs across the country were raising questions about how much pain from the political impasse over health care costs will be foisted on millions of Americans planning holiday travel.
If the FAA jacks up flight reductions from the originally planned 10% to 20%, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened on Friday, the travel disruption “would be felt by local economies, as well as passengers,” DIA chief executive Phil Washington said. “There’s also risk of people choosing not to fly.”
DIA managers deployed extra volunteers to help guide travelers through this weekend. Airlines canceled 75 flights in and out of Denver on Friday, and another 60 on Saturday, according to the FlightAware tracking system.
Airport officials still were waiting Friday evening for a response from the FAA to their humanitarian request — made before Trump administration officials ordered flight reductions — for permission to use local airport revenue to cover federal air traffic controllers’ wages until the shutdown ends.
Colorado’s senators and representatives in Congress on Friday sent a letter to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, referring to controllers’ “fatigue” from staffing shortfalls and urging immediate approval of DIA’s “commonsense proposal that provides a temporary lifeline” for workers who ensure safety in the skies.
“This is unprecedented, asking this of the FAA. So I can understand they may have never seen this sort of thing before. But I hope they understand the humanitarian urgency for these people who have not been compensated,” Washington said in an interview.
“We are all concerned. We’re concerned about our passengers who are frustrated. We’re concerned about our controllers, the Transportation Security Administration agents, and the Border Patrol folks. We’re very concerned that this might continue. We are the type that looks to do something,” he said.
Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights nationwide on Friday alone to comply with FAA instructions requiring a 4% reduction by Sunday, then increasing, subject to FAA orders, to reach 10% by Nov. 14. F
AA officials this week said the reductions are necessary to ensure airspace safety due to the government shutdown that has forced essential federal employees to work without pay. Duffy told reporters he may increase flight cuts to 20% if airspace conditions worsen and federal air traffic controllers don’t show up to work.
The cuts were kicking in at 40 major hubs across the country, including in New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Airlines officials have said they’ll try to minimize pain for travelers, allowing re-booking at no cost. United Airlines, the largest carrier at DIA, was targeting so-called “regional” flights while trying to preserve high-volume hub-to-hub and international flights. TSA wait times at DIA on Friday averaged around six minutes.
Arriving home in Colorado from Las Vegas, frequent flier Cheryl Gray, 69, said she and Steve Friedberg, 62, encountered no problems on their Frontier Airlines flight and that they’ve been thanking TSA screeners for their work.
“If there was a problem, we would have rented a car and driven. You have to make lemonade out of lemons,” Gray said, waiting for her baggage. “It’s a tough situation. Everyone needs to make some accommodations. The Democrats are pushing this pain out to the people.”
San Francisco-based software engineer Ethan Uzarowski, 26, who landed at DIA on his way to Copper Mountain for skiing, said he’s worried most about air traffic controller staffing shortages.
“I am not glad that the government is shut down and that people are having problems with flights getting canceled. I don’t know why the government is still shut down. I put my full trust in the airlines and the FAA. But I hope they will pay the air traffic controllers,” he said, supporting DIA’s push to cover the wages if necessary for those federal workers in towers directing planes.
“Thank you to the people up there, working without pay in air traffic control. Get their rent paid. Get food on their tables while they’re not getting paid.”
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