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FAA reducing air traffic by 10% amid ongoing government shutdown
The Federal Aviation Administration announced it would reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 "high volume" markets beginning this Friday.
WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced its plans to reduce air traffic at 40 of the country's "high-volume" markets by 10% beginning Friday, according to The Associated Press.
This move is in direct response to the ongoing government shutdown, which, as of Tuesday, has become the longest in United States history. The FAA says this will help maintain traveler safety, should the shutdown continue for the foreseeable future.
Flight delays nationwide
What we know:
Since the beginning of the shutdown, the FAA has been grappling with staffing shortages among air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay since the beginning of October. Some have begun calling out of work, which, as the AP notes, has resulted in flight delays nationwide. This is because the FAA slows or stops aircraft traffic temporarily whenever it's short on air traffic controllers.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy are scheduled to meet later Wednesday with airline executives in order to develop a course of action regarding the reduction in flights.
Bedford told the AP that the list of airports affected by these reductions will be released on Thursday. But what are the busiest airports in the country?
According to Airports Council International - North America, these are the 40 airports with the highest passenger volume in the United States:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Dallas/Ft Worth International Airport
- Denver International Airport
- O'Hare International Airport
- Los Angeles International Airport
- John F. Kennedy International Airport
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- Harry Reid International Airport
- Orlando International Airport
- Miami International Airport
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
- Sky Harbor International Airport
- San Francisco International Airport
- Newark Liberty International Airport
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport
- Logan International Airport
- Minneapolis/St Paul International Airport
- Ft Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
- LaGuardia Airport
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- Salt Lake City International Airport
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
- Washington Dulles International Airport
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
- San Diego International Airport
- Tampa International Airport
- Nashville International Airport
- Honolulu International Airport
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
- Midway International Airport
- Love Field
- Portland International Airport
- Lambert-St Louis International Airport
- Raleigh-Durham International Airport
- W. P. Hobby Airport
- Sacramento International Airport
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- Kansas City International Airport
- Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport
What we don't know:
It's unclear if these are the 40 airports that will be affected as of Friday.
The Source: Information in this article was sourced from The Associated Press and Airports Council International - North America.