The government order is intended mostly to keep flying safe, but it's partly political, as a stalemate in Congress has led to the lengthiest government shutdown in U.S. history - and air traffic controllers, who are federal employees, are working without pay. The reductions are being phased in - 4% on Friday and 5% on Saturday, building up to 10% sometime next week if the shutdown continues, as SFGATE previously reported.
The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to cut 10 percent of flights in 40 high-traffic airports on Friday morning if Congress fails to reopen the federal government by then, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA chief Bryan Bedford said Wednesday. The announcement came days after the US agency said it faced widespread shortages of air traffic controllers in half of the country's 30 busiest airports, and hours-long security lines caused by absences of Transportation Security Administration agents.
should expect schedule changes, gate holds, and missed connections. Anyone flying today should check flight status before heading to the airport and expect longer waits,
American Airlines told the news station KTLA that it started removing the metal sizers on October 6. According to the airline, the move is intended to simplify the boarding process-bypassing the bottleneck that sometimes forms when multiple passengers need to check the size of their bags. Starting this week, gate agents will be responsible for visually assessing whether carry-ons are the appropriate size.
The company said in an SEC filing that it became aware of the cybersecurity incident on September 19. The disclosure does not mention Collins Aerospace, the subsidiary that offers the impacted airport check-in and boarding solutions. RTX confirmed that customers have resorted to backup and manual processes, which has led to flights being delayed and cancelled. The company explained that ransomware was found on "systems that support its Multi-User System Environment (MUSE) passenger processing software," adding, "This software enables multiple airlines to share check-in and gate resources at airports, including baggage handling.