Airports and Airlines Are Crawling Out of the Shutdown

"Travelers should expect scattered delays and cancellations, aviation experts say, as airlines get their crews and aircraft back into place after weeks of acute staffing shortages. Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration began requiring airlines to cancel flights, up to 6 percent of them earlier this week in 40 airports, some of the country's busiest. The agency said the measure was necessary to keep airspace safe as controllers and security professionals missed their second straight paychecks."

"For the next few days, though, it'll be difficult to sort shutdown-related delays from the standard chaos of the holiday season. "It'll be hard to get everything up and running quickly, " says Tim Kiefer, a former air traffic controller who is now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "But you would have experienced some delays because of weather, equipment issues, or staffing, whether there was a government shutdown or not.""

Air travel faces lingering disruptions after the longest government shutdown ended, with Thanksgiving week and the Sunday after expected to be especially busy. Airlines must reposition crews and aircraft following weeks of acute staffing shortages, prompting the FAA to require cancellations at up to 40 airports and as many as 6 percent of flights to maintain safety. Controllers and security personnel missed paychecks, compounding understaffing and causing widespread delays and cancellations. Residual effects will persist for days as systems and workers return to schedules, and some impacts could last longer due to repeated interruptions and long-term underhiring and retirements among controllers.

Read at WIRED