As the longest federal shutdown in history finally winds down, airlines are racing against time to contain the damage before normal government operations resume.
The Senate approved a bill Monday to restore federal funding, potentially ending the shutdown this week when the House considers it. Despite this, industry experts warn disruptions will persist after reopening.
Air travel remained mostly stable during the shutdown’s first weeks with 4,000 cancellations, but surged to 8,000 in just four days. The FAA has since ordered flight reductions at 40 major airports.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 11, over 1,200 flights within, into or out of the United States had been canceled for the day, according to the data tracker FlightAware. There were over 1,700 delays as of 11 a.m. ET.
As chaos unfolds across the skies, pilots and flight attendants are hitting their federally mandated time limits before even finishing their scheduled routes. It’s a perfect storm: crew members stranded at the wrong airports, aircraft in the wrong locations, and airlines scrambling to find replacements before delays spiral out of control.
In response, carriers like Delta and United are dangling financial carrots to entice crew members to pick up additional trips, with United confirming they’ve ramped up premium pay offers for pilots and extending similar incentives to flight attendants at certain bases.
Meanwhile, airlines are tapping into their safety net—reserve crews who stand ready for unexpected situations. As this backup pool dwindles, travelers might face real headaches during Thanksgiving weekend, when millions take to the skies starting Nov. 27.
As for the effects on the airline industry’s bottom lines, a broader decline has seen air ticket sales down 10 percent year-over-year for travel through November, according to ARC.
“Everybody in the industry is a little bit worried about the fourth quarter,” American Airlines‘ strategy chief Steve Johnson told Reuters.
Bottom line: Post-shutdown, a return to normalcy will take time. Systems restart gradually, backlogs require processing and some impacts may persist longer-term.
How Planners Are Coping
Prevue reached out to meeting and event planners dealing with the shutdown’s impact on already-planned and future events. With major airlines waiving change fees, some planners have avoided program disruption by building in extra days to get to and from events.
Above all, the planners we spoke to are stressing flexibility, constant communication with clients and continuous updating.
“Flexibility and proactive communication have been essential during this disruption,” said Kate Patay, Vice President of Global Engagement at Terramar, a DMC Network Company. “At Terramar DMC, we’re constantly monitoring flight schedules and staying in close contact with clients and transportation teams so we can adjust plans in real time and keep every experience running smoothly.”
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