More than 70 flights to and from Denver International Airport were canceled Friday as the Federal Aviation Administration ’s unprecedented order to scale back flights nationwide because of the record-long government shutdown took effect.
The regional carrier SkyWest Airlines had the most affected flights, followed by Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.
Denver flights to and from Los Angeles, Colorado Springs, Phoenix and Dallas were among those canceled Friday.
United Airlines, which has a hub at Denver’s airport, now has a website showing all of its flights affected through Sunday by the air traffic scale back.
You can see those affected flights here: https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/company/company-info/airline-schedule-reductions.html.
Airlines are scrambling to adjust their schedules to adhere to the FAA’s order, while travelers with plans for the weekend and beyond are waiting nervously to learn if their flights will take off as scheduled.
Airlines also planned cancellations into the weekend, directing passengers to check apps to learn their flight status.
The 40 airports selected by the FAA, including Denver, span more than two dozen states.
The FAA said the reductions would start at 4% and ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14. They are to be in effect between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and impact all commercial airlines.
The agency said the cutbacks are necessary to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who’ve been working without pay for more than a month. Many are pulling six-day work weeks with mandatory overtime, and increasing numbers of them have begun calling out as the financial strain and exhaustion mount.
Air Force One cleared for takeoff
Hundreds of flights are being canceled because of the government shutdown, but the president isn’t grounded. He’s expected to jet down to Florida’s Palm Beach today to spend the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, his private resort.
Travelers shift travel plans with delays rising at US airports
In the scramble to find alternatives to flying, Hertz is reporting a sharp increase in one-way car rentals. One-way reservations have spiked more that 20% through this weekend compared with the same period last year.
Hertz CEO Gil West urged Congress to restore certainty for travelers, saying “Every day of delay creates unnecessary disruption.”
Has this happened before?
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said this week that he’s never seen these kinds of measures taken before in his nearly four-decade experience in the aviation field.
“We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns,” he said.
Staffing problems led to delays throughout October, but they were mostly isolated and temporary. Last weekend, though, saw a change.
From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, is well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.
Which airports are affected?
The 40 airports selected by the FAA for reductions span more than two dozen states and include hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami and Newark, according to an order published by the agency Thursday evening. A full list of affected airports can be found here.
Tips for passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled during the shutdown can be found here.
Airlines said they would try to minimize impact on customers
Some planned to focus on slashing routes to and from small and medium-size cities.
Carriers are required to refund customers whose flights are canceled but not to cover secondary costs such as food and hotel accommodations unless a delay or cancellation results from a contributing factor that is within the control of the airlines, according to the Department of Transportation.
Industry analyst Henry Harteveldt warned that the reductions will “have a noticeable impact across the U.S. air transportation system.”
More than 815 flights have been called off nationwide, according to FlightAware
Delta Air Lines said it would scratch roughly 170 flights Friday, and American Airlines planned to cut 220 a day through Monday.
The FAA said the reductions would start at 4% and ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Colorado Sun staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.