Passengers cope while San Diego, other U.S. airports brace for more canceled flights

San Diego International Airport File photo by Chris Stone Times of San Diego Anxious travelers across the U S felt a bit of relief at airports Friday as airlines mostly stayed on schedule while still cutting more than flights Plenty of nervousness remained though as more canceled flights are coming over the next week to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration s order to reduce organization at the nation s busiest airports largely because of the leadership shutdown The order is in response to air traffic controllers who haven t been paid in nearly a month as the shutdown drags on calling out of work in higher numbers as they deal with financial pressure While it s left a few passengers making backup plans and reserving rental cars the flights canceled Friday represented just a small portion of overall flights nationwide Passengers still faced last-minute cancellations and long measure lines at the airports targeted by the slowdown including in San Diego Los Angeles and Ontario along with major hubs in Atlanta Dallas Denver and Charlotte North Carolina Airlines expect limited disruptions this weekend and stressed that international flights are not expected to be affected But if the shutdown persists much longer and more controllers call out of work after they miss their second paycheck on Tuesday the number of cancellations could jump from the initial reduction of flights to or Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed on Fox News on Friday Representatives later offered more details Flight quota at the affected airports will be cut by beginning Friday ramping up to on Tuesday next Thursday and the full by next Friday Long lines and for various long drives Those who manifested up before sunrise Friday at Houston s George Bush Intercontinental Airport faced guard lines that barely moved prompting various people to lie down while they waited It was snaking around all different parts of the regular area Cara Bergeron announced after flying from Houston to Atlanta I ve never seen anything like that Others were less fortunate Karen Soika from Greenwich Connecticut detected her flight out of Newark New Jersey was rebooked for an hour earlier Then she learned her plane was genuinely leaving from New York s John F Kennedy International Airport at least an hour away Soika a surgeon unsuccessfully tried to book a rental car to get to Utah for a weekend trip before settling on an option that seemed straight out of Hollywood I m going to U-Haul and I m going to drive a truck cross-country declared Soika who is advising on anatomical scenes there for a spinoff of the TV series Yellowstone Hertz published a sharp increase in one-way car rentals Airlines scramble to rebook passengers More than flights were called off nationwide Friday five times the number canceled Thursday according to FlightAware a website that tracks flight disruptions In San Diego flights had been canceled as of midday Friday compared to two cancellations throughout the day Thursday At LAX a total of inbound and outbound flight cancellations were shared as of mid-morning Friday along with flight delays There were a total of nine cancellations all day at LAX on Thursday according to FlightAware Reagan National Airport was hit the hardest with at least of its arrivals flights canceled Friday The major hubs of O Hare Atlanta Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth rounded out the top five airports for cancellations but those airports only lost around of their flights Not all the cancellations were due to the FAA order and both United and American airlines announced they were able to hastily rebook the greater part travelers The airlines focused their cuts on smaller regional routes to airports where they have multiple flights a day helping minimize the number of passengers impacted Delta Air Lines noted it scratched roughly flights Friday while American planned to cut each day through Monday Southwest Airlines cut about flights Friday If the shutdown continues there may be more domino effects ahead of the holidays Nearly half of all U S air freight is shipped in the bellies of customer aircraft so the disruption could raise costs for shipping goods reported Patrick Penfield professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University Air trip is part of the infrastructure backbone of the American financial system stated Greg Raiff CEO of the Elevate Aviation Group consultancy This shutdown is going to impact everything from cargo aircraft to people getting to business meetings to tourists being able to journey Why is this happening The FAA reported the cuts are necessary to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers Countless are pulling six-day work weeks with mandatory overtime I don t want to see the disruption I don t want to see the delays Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described reporters at Ronald Reagan National Airport just outside of Washington In addition the FAA is also limiting commercial space launches and reentries to the hours of p m to a m local time Parachute operations and photo missions near affected airports were also being prohibited The FAA s order comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown Ending the authorities shutdown would ease the situation for controllers but the FAA disclosed the flight cuts will remain in place until their safety content improves Denver International Airport is working to fill in the gap creating a food pantry for its federal employees and asking the FAA for permission to use the airport s revenue to pay for controllers wages The airport noted Friday it has not heard back from the FAA yet What can airlines and travelers do Airlines are in uncharted territory noted Kerry Tan a professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore who has studied the industry The uncertainty associated with the administration shutdown makes it challenging for airlines to rationally plan their response and optimize their flight operations Tan revealed Carriers are required to refund customers whose flights are canceled but not to cover costs such as food and hotels unless a delay or cancellation results from a factor within the control of the airlines according to the Department of Transportation People really should be thinking What else can I do noted Christina Schlegel a progress adviser from Arlington Virginia Can I already research a few other likely flights What other flights are out there Have that information in your back pocket