Experts say FAA flight cuts could cause major travel delays

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Airlines are canceling flights while the FAA deals with a shortage of air traffic controllers during the longest government shutdown in history. Air traffic controllers are calling out of work because they haven’t been paid in more than a month.

American Airlines says it will cancel about 220 flights a day. United and Delta have both started canceling flights through the weekend.

Experts say this means hundreds of thousands of travelers will likely experience delays or cancellations.

Summer Hull with ThePointsGuy says there will likely be major impacts to people flying from larger hubs to smaller cities.

“The most impacted flights are going to be the ones from a hub to a smaller city, and then specifically also the ones operated by regional aircraft,” Hull said.

She says some airlines are loosening their refund policies giving people a chance to avoid the chaos.

“In some ways, they are being more generous than normal in terms of getting your money back, but they won’t be covering your extra expenses,” Hull said. “However, there are a lot of credit cards that do so.”

She recommends travelers proactively outline a back up plan to their destinations. In some cases she says trains or bus might be a faster method.

“There’s going to be a lot of people battling for remaining seats once flights are canceled, especially as we get closer to the busier travel time if this is still going on,” Hull said. “So, don’t sit back and wait for the airline to help you.”

Last year, CLT saw more than one million passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday so if the flight cuts continue we can expect a major impact for travelers.

The FAA is giving airlines a chance to ease into cuts starting off at 4% tomorrow to eventually reach 10% next week.