Airlines are optimistic about a quick recovery ahead of Thanksgiving once FAA ends flight cuts

The airlines say they will be ready and expect that normal operations will resume within three or four days after the order is lifted. Some experts have suggested that problems might linger longer than that and could affect Thanksgiving travel, so it is difficult to predict whether the airlines will be able to recover from this as quickly as they do after a major snowstorm disrupts their operations and leaves planes and crews out of position. The airlines focused their cuts on smaller regional routes to minimize the impact on their main hubs. By late Thursday morning, about 1,000 flights had been cancelled across the country. “We are eager to resume normal operations over the next few days once the FAA gives clearance. We look forward to welcoming 31 million passengers-a new record-to our flights during the upcoming Thanksgiving travel period, beginning next Friday,” the Airlines for America trade group said Thursday. Duffy has said that controllers and other FAA employees should receive 70% of their back pay within 24-48 hours of the end of the shutdown with the rest to come over the next couple paychecks. The financial pressure on controllers drove some of them to seek out side jobs to help make ends meet and call out of work while they dealt with the stress. Last Saturday, the staff shortages peaked when 81 different FAA facilities warned they were running low on workers, forcing the airlines to cut additional flights. On Thursday morning, the FAA didn’t list any staffing warnings at airports and other radar facilities across the country.