US shutdown leads to thousands of flight cancellations

These included Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. At Atlanta airport alone, one of the busiest in the US, delays averaged 337 minutes.

The FAA had ordered airlines to cut four percent of daily flights at 40 major airports starting Friday. The cuts are to be increased to six percent on Tuesday and to ten percent by November 14. A total of approximately 5,450 flights were delayed on Saturday, following 7,000 delays and 1,025 cancellations on Friday. This is due to the government shutdown, which has now been in effect for 39 days.

Around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners are forced to work without pay, leading to high rates of sick leave. According to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, 20 to 40 percent of air traffic controllers have not shown up for work in recent days.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz blamed the shutdown for the safety problems. According to him, pilots have submitted more than 500 voluntary safety reports since the shutdown began, detailing errors by fatigued air traffic controllers, Cruz said on Friday.

President Donald Trump's administration is using the problems in air traffic to increase pressure on Senate Democrats to unconditionally approve a budget bill. Democrats, in turn, accuse Republicans of refusing to negotiate expiring health insurance subsidies. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated he could order cuts of up to 20 percent if more air traffic controllers are absent.