As reductions in flight traffic mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration and caused by the record-setting government shutdown stretched into their fourth day Monday, flight cancellations and delays continued at major Bay Area airports.
The air traffic reductions, prompted by air traffic controller fatigue as workers remain unpaid into a second month, began with a 4% decrease Friday. Reductions were expected to rise to 10% of planned flight traffic throughout this week. The cancellations were primarily impacting 40 high-traffic airports across the country, including San Francisco International Airport and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, but the impacts were rippling to other Bay Area airports as well.
Though legislation that could potentially end the shutdown was on track Monday, the flight reductions will likely continue through this week.
Air traffic controllers have been doing their jobs unpaid since Oct. 1, when the government shutdown began. Many have had to work six-day weeks as they put in mandatory overtime.
As of noon on Monday, 39 flights had been canceled throughout the day at SFO, making up a total of 3% of the airport’s traffic, said spokesperson Doug Yakel. About 123 flights — or 10% of airport traffic — were delayed, with delays averaging about 35 minutes primarily on short-haul West Coast flights. He noted that the weather outlook was good.
“The majority of these reductions are being made in advance, allowing airlines to proactively notify customers before their day of travel,” Yakel said.
At OAK, seven departing flights and six arriving flights were canceled Monday, according to public information officer Kaley Skantz. A total of 23 incoming and outgoing flights had delays of more than 30 minutes, she added.
“Overall, operations at OAK have been running normally this morning,” Skantz said.
San Jose Mineta International Airport, which was largely unaffected Friday, began to see impacts from flight cancellations at other airports over the weekend and continuing into Monday, said assistant public information manager Ana State. Four flights were cancelled as of Monday morning.
At SJC, Sunday saw the most significant impacts, with ten incoming flights and ten outgoing flights canceled, State added. The outgoing flights were slated to use the same aircrafts flying in on the canceled incoming routes. Saturday had four flights impacted by the flight reductions.
On Saturday, 39 fights, or 3%, were canceled at SFO, Yakel said. About 30% of all flights, or 356, were delayed. Sunday saw 51 flight cancellations and 284 flights delayed, making up 4% and 25% of total flights, respectively. Like on Monday, the majority of delays impacted short-haul West Coast flights.
Over the weekend, OAK saw five cancellations Saturday and 12 cancellations on Sunday, Skantz said.