Over 2,000 US flights cancelled as shutdown hits day 40

The US federal government shutdown, now in its 40th day, has led to over 2,000 flight cancellations and 8,000 delays. Staffing shortages and FAA-imposed flight reductions at major airports threaten Thanksgiving travel and could impact fourth-quarter economic growth.

Washington: As the US federal government shutdown entered its 40th day, more than 2,000 flights were cancelled and over 8,000 delayed nationwide, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Since the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) mandated flight reduction policy took effect on Friday, the number of canceled flights surged from 202 on Thursday to 1,025 on Friday, and further to 1,566 on Saturday, Xinha news agency reported.

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The number of air traffic controllers taking leave has risen since the shutdown began on October 1, forcing many others to work overtime.

The US Department of Transportation and the FAA recently announced a 10 per cent capacity reduction at 40 major airports across the country starting Friday, aiming to ease staffing pressures and reduce airspace safety risks.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN on Sunday. “I look to the two weeks before Thanksgiving. You’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.”

On the same day, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CBS that if people are not traveling during Thanksgiving, “we really could be looking at a negative quarter for the fourth quarter.”

The regular budget, which should have been ready on October 1, marks the start of the US fiscal year. Instead, it is snaggled in party polarisation. A temporary measure known as a “continuing resolution” is needed to finance the government for now.

That resolution has been held up in the Senate due to a procedural element known as the filibuster, which blocks a legislative measure from coming up for a vote.

Sixty votes are required to break it, instead of a simple majority, as a way of putting the brakes on a party with a majority running roughshod.

The Republicans, with only 53 votes, are powerless to break the filibuster and pass their version of the temporary funding resolution.