DENVER — Even with the end of the government shutdown in sight, transportation experts told Denver7 Wednesday air travel may continue to see some effects in the coming days.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency order freezing flight reductions at its current level of 6%, citing "a rapid decline in controller callouts."
This occurred just hours before the U.S. House of Representatives approved a spending bill to reopen the government following the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
MSU Denver aviation expert Chad Kendall told Denver7 travel impacts at Denver International Airport (DIA) during the shutdown could have been worse.
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“We haven’t seen those impacts as far as delays at our airport, and that’s just kind of given the advantages of our airspace, too. We don’t compete with a lot of the airports, like a lot of the other airports do, as far as airspace,” explained Kendall.
Kendall estimated airlines will need about 24 to 48 hours to get back to normal as soon as the FAA gets the green light to lift restrictions.
He said getting federal workers back to normal staffing levels could take a little extra time, though.
“We were already in a staffing shortage of air traffic controllers before. The shutdown may have just exacerbated that just a little bit. So I expect within the weeks after the government reopens, that we still see pockets of delays at busy airports during peak times,” said Kendall.
He said you should still be staying up-to-date with your airline if you’re traveling in the next week or so — just to make sure you’re not hit with any unexpected delays.
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