Savannah/Hilton Head airport sees shutdown-related cancellations, disruptions
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has come to an end, but airports and airlines are scrambling to get operations back to normal with days to go until the biggest travel week of the year.
Last week, as the shutdown surpassed the 30-day mark, the Trump Administration ordered airlines to make schedule cuts at 40 major airports to ensure safety. Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport was not on the list of 40, but the local airport flies directly to 22 of the hubs on the cuts list, including New York LaGuardia Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Since the FAA reductions, Savannah/Hilton Head has had roughly three and four cancellations per day, spokeswoman Lori Lynah said; on Wednesday there were two cancellations and none for Thursday as of about 9 a.m.
Representatives for Charleston International Airport did not immediately respond to an email requesting information.
Nationally, air travel was chaotic over the weekend, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Flight schedules were reduced by 4% over the weekend and 6% as of Tuesday.
As the shutdown went on, fewer air traffic controllers were showing up to work without pay, Duffy said. The FAA had 81 “staffing triggers” on Saturday, 53 on Sunday and four on Tuesday as the shutdown’s end seemed imminent. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were three of the highest four days for staffing triggers of the shutdown, Air Traffic Organization COO Frank McIntosh said.
Employees should expect to receive 70% of their missed paychecks within 24-48 hours of a deal, Duffy said, and the rest about a week later.
It’s unclear what travel this weekend will look like now that the government has reopened. As of Thursday, flight tracking website FlightAware reported 910 cancellations within, into or out of the U.S. on Thursday and predicted 998 for Friday. Before Congress reached an agreement, Duffy’s prediction for this coming weekend was grim: Schedule reductions of more than 10%, and the possibility that some airlines would cease operations temporarily.
Now that the government has reopened, airlines are preparing to get things up and running in time for the holidays.
American Airlines said that “hundreds of thousands” of its customers were impacted by the mandated cancellations and call-outs.
“We are well-positioned to recover quickly because of our operational decisions to minimize disruption,” the airline said in a statement. Delta Air Lines said that it expects to bring its operation back to full capacity over the next few days.
Southwest Airlines reported 140 cancellations on Monday, 155 on Tuesday and 145 on Wednesday. No disruptions are expected on United Airlines flights at Savannah or Hilton Head Island airports Thursday or Friday.