Airlines across US to cut flights by six percent

(MENAFN) Airlines across the United States will reduce flights by 6% starting Tuesday, even as optimism grows that the federal government shutdown could soon end.

“Today, we increased it by another 2%. We're at 6% of cancelations of flights in the airspace,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters at a press briefing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. He explained that flight adjustments have been guided entirely by data: “Some have asked 'When are you going to start rolling those back?' The answer to that is, this has all been data based.”

Duffy called on Congress to quickly approve the bipartisan plan to end the shutdown, which he said would provide relief to travelers after nearly a week of widespread flight disruptions. “Today looks better, and (if) the House does their work, tomorrow I think we're well on our way to getting into more normal air travel, less delays and less cancelations,” he added.

However, Duffy cautioned that delays and cancellations are expected to intensify as Thanksgiving week approaches, one of the busiest travel periods of the year. “As we come into Thanksgiving. This is a Super Bowl of air traffic controlling right? It's a massive movement of Americans,” he noted.

The current shutdown began on October 1 following a deadlock over federal spending priorities. Since then, thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or forced to work without pay, while numerous government services have been limited or suspended.

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