ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando International Airport was relieved by the traditional slow day in the travel week as airlines received a chance to get stranded passengers to their destinations after a brutal weekend of cancellations.
Fewer than 100 flights were delayed for the first time since last week and half as many flights were canceled, low by government shutdown standards.
Passengers reported empty seats in their flights while airport workers said the throngs of people sleeping inside the airside portions of the terminal had dissipated.
Jeanne Garcia took Brightline to Orlando from FT. Lauderdale, where her flight was canceled early in the morning.
“The options they gave me were a flight out either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, or they offered to dump us in Detroit,” Garcia said. “I live in Cleveland, so Detroit wouldn’t be an option.”
With lawmakers poised to end the shutdown Wednesday, airlines will have a week and a half to right-size their schedules before the Thanksgiving travel season gets underway – just enough time, aviation experts said – since many flights are canceled a week in advance.
The FAA will only lift its air traffic restrictions once enough ATC workers return to duty. If insufficient workers report back by Thursday, an 8% reduction will be enforced.
“In the current political climate, federal workers are under heightened scrutiny,” a memo on the National Air Traffic Controllers Association website said. “We cannot stress enough that it is essential to avoid any actions that reflect poorly on you, our Union, or our professions.”
In response to specific questions about President Trump’s threats to workers to pressure them into returning to work, union spokespeople said the government should reopen so workers could get paid.
They said many controllers, who earn a median of $144,000 per year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, work six days a week for 10 hours each day.
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