A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Airlines have begun canceling hundreds of flights. This after the FAA directed airlines to gradually reduce air traffic by 10% at dozens of major airports across the country.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The agency says the move is needed to ensure safety amid a shortage of air traffic controllers during the government shutdown. But many questions remain about this planned reduction in air traffic and what it will mean for airlines and travelers. In a few minutes, we'll speak with Chris Sununu. He's president and CEO of the trade group Airlines for America. First, though...
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's transportation correspondent Joel Rose hopefully will answer those questions. Joel, so what do we know about the FAA's plan?
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: So late Thursday, the FAA officially released a list of 40 major airports where it's going to reduce the number of flights, including some big airline hubs, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Dallas and more. The FAA's plan requires airlines to phase in these cuts gradually. So the airlines will cut about 4% of their flights through this weekend and gradually work their way up to 10% by next Friday. Airlines have some discretion to decide how they're going to hit those targets, and these reductions will not apply to international flights, only to domestic flights. And I should note, it's not just aviation. The plan will also limit space launches, which can be an extra demand for air traffic controllers to handle.
MARTÍNEZ: So it sounds like it's going to be some kind of a disruption. How big of a mess is it going to be?
ROSE: It's really hard to say. I mean, Delta Airlines said that it would operate the vast majority of its flights as scheduled but that the frequency of those flights to some destinations may be limited. United Airlines says this is not a high-demand time of year to fly, so the airline does have empty seats and is optimistic that it can accommodate many customers. United senior vice president David Kinzelman spoke with NPR's All Things Considered yesterday. And here's some of what he said.
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DAVID KINZELMAN: We have service disruptions frequently in the airline business. It could be storms. It could be staffing triggers. So we've got a good playbook. Just to put it in perspective, the impact here is about what we would expect from a medium-sized storm.
ROSE: But this is bigger than just a thunderstorm in one part of the country, with 40 airports all over the country having reduced capacity all at the same time. There's no real precedent for something like this at this scale, so it's hard to say how it's going to go.
MARTÍNEZ: It's also hard to be patient when you have somewhere to go. So how are travelers handling it?
ROSE: Travelers are understandably pretty worried. Our member station WABE spoke to a woman named Ellen Silva who had just arrived in Atlanta yesterday. Silva is supposed to fly back to Baltimore on Tuesday, and she is concerned about what could happen if that flight is canceled.
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ELLEN SILVA: I would miss work. And I'd have some very unhappy people that I work for 'cause they depend on me so they can travel. And if I'm not there, they can't leave.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. Now, a big question for a lot of those people is why all of this is happening right now.
ROSE: The official explanation from the FAA, as we heard, is that it is necessary for safety. The government shutdown is clearly taking a toll on air traffic controllers who are required to work without pay. Some have taken on second jobs. Many are calling out sick. Overall, the air traffic control system had been working fairly well during the shutdown until this past weekend when we did see staffing shortages at dozens of facilities all at the same time.
You know, and even last night, there were hour-long delays at several big airports, including Boston and Washington, D.C. But the administration's critics and some air traffic controllers are saying this is mostly a PR move or a political move that is related to talks around ending the government shutdown. It's also possible that more than one of those explanations could be true at the same time. In other words, it could be about safety or politics or both.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Joel Rose. Joel, thanks.
ROSE: You're welcome, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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