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As reductions on commercial flights across the U.S. continue to persist due to ramifications from the government shutdown, the FAA has placed new restrictions on general aviation operations at 12 of the nation’s busiest airports.
In a press release on Sunday, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) notified members of the new measures that went into effect at midnight the following day. According to the NBAA, limited exceptions will be made for emergency, medical, law enforcement, firefighting, and military operations.
A series of NOTAMs were issued at each affected airport concerning the temporary halting of GA flights.
“Further restrictions were announced that will effectively prohibit business aviation operations at 12 of those airports, disproportionately impacting general aviation, an industry that creates more than a million jobs, generates $340 billion in economic impact, and supports humanitarian flights every day,” said NBAA president Ed Bolen.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced their decision to reduce air traffic by 10 percent at 40 high-volume airports across the country due to strains placed on the National Air Space (NAS) by the government shutdown that is affecting some ATCs’ ability to show up for work.
“As we slice the data more granularly, we are seeing pressures build in a way that we don’t feel will, if we allow it to go unchecked, allow us to continue to tell the public that we operate the safest airline system in the world,” Bedford said Wednesday. “And we’re not going to react to that, and we intend to be proactive.”
The reductions have already had a profound impact on air travel. On Sunday, nearly 3,000 flights were canceled around the country, with some of the nation’s largest airlines—Delta, United, Southwest, and American—each scrapping over 200 flights, according to tracking data from FlightAware.
The NBAA stated that it stands with the Modern Skies Coalition, a partnership made up of organizations across the aviation spectrum, in urging congressional leaders to end the government shutdown.
“This moment underscores the need to reopen the government to serve all Americans,” Bolen said. “NBAA stands with the rest of the aviation community in calling upon congress to end the shutdown immediately, and for the NOTAMs to be repealed when the government reopens.”
Mounting pressure from calls to end the government shutdown, which entered its 40th day on Monday, appear to be resonating with lawmakers.
On Sunday, eight Democratic senators broke rank with their party, paving the way for a formal debate on a measure that would fund the government through January. The 60-40 vote is the first sign of hope to end the record-breaking gridlock since the government was first shut down in early October.
Even with an agreement potentially on the horizon, it remains unclear when the reductions on air traffic will be reversed. Duffy stated that the restrictions would remain in place until the NAS metrics move in the right direction.
“We are going to use data,” Duffy said. “The data will dictate what we do. Again, if the data goes in the wrong direction, could you see additional restrictions? Yes. If the data goes in the right direction, we will roll this back.”
