Travelers brace for chaos as US government shutdown threatens holiday flights

By MATT SEDENSKY and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press NEW YORK AP Travelers braced for canceled flights scrambled plans and holidays stranded in airports as a U S regime shutdown threatened to snarl trips across the country News that the Federal Aviation Administration will reduce air traffic at airports beginning Friday set off a flurry of worry among those planning trips Oh no disclosed -year-old Talia Dunyak who is due to fly next week from Vienna to Philadelphia among the airports targeted by the FAA for flight cutbacks I m really hoping my flights don t get canceled Dunyak is due to meet her newborn niece have a few business meetings and celebrate Thanksgiving with family during a precisely planned trip Now she s wondering what will happen It s such a busy time to tour and there s not so various direct flights disclosed Dunyak who works in populace relations I might end up in a few nightmare Related Articles Judge will order federal agents in Chicago to restrict using force against protesters and media Northern lights may be visible in parts of the US due to solar storms Cowboys Marshawn Kneeland uncovered dead of apparent suicide at after evading officers police say The U S was a leader in cultural heritage investigations Now those agents are working immigration enforcement Denver among major U S airports targeted by shutdown-related flight cuts Those worries were pervasive with Thanksgiving and the busiest trip days of the year looming ahead and a crush of passengers fearful of reliving a scene out of Planes Trains and Automobiles Though the exact parameters of the FAA s plan were not distributed it promised to upend trips in broad swaths of the country Affected airports are dotted across more than two dozen states and include chosen of the busiest hubs including Atlanta Denver Dallas Orlando Miami and San Francisco In specific of the biggest cities such as New York Houston and Chicago multiple airports will be affected It was enough to cause Laura Adams to ditch plans of flying altogether Adams lives in Vero Beach Florida and typically flies with her husband for Thanksgiving with his family in Fair Hope Alabama They ll now make a -hour drive instead We really felt quite uneasy and just didn t want to threat having a flight cancellation or a delay or getting stuck noted Adams It just seems really risky Though she s not a fan of long car trips she s resigned herself to it even if the shutdown ends and flights are restored Just kind of weighing the pros and cons it just seems like a better option she disclosed Jennifer Dombrowski a -year-old American living in Bordeaux France likewise adapted her plans She s due to passage next week to her hometown of Erie Pennsylvania for the first time in two years and has opted to skirt U S airports altogether She ll fly to Toronto then drive to visit her parents including a father with terminal cancer I don t really want to deal she commented Major carriers like United Delta Air Lines and American Airlines mentioned they would offer refunds to passengers who opt not to fly even if they purchased tickets that aren t normally refundable And United Airlines explained it would focus on cutting smaller regional routes Joseph Trainor who shuttles between New York and his home in Boynton Beach Florida every week canceled his flights for next week and is looking to book multiple backup routes farther down the road in affair future trips land on the chopping block I m afraid the flights I m on are going to cancel he declared It s going to cause a cascading effect throughout the system Even with the safeguards of additional reservations Trainor knows cancellations can ripple through the system and affect him anyway Still he s thinking about the Transportation Safeguard Administration agents who have been going without pay in a shutdown that entered its th day on Thursday They re the heroes keeping the system going and I don t know if the ruling body realizes how much air traffic and our commercial sector is based on that Trainor noted