Flight reductions at 40 airports; including airports to and from Columbia Regional
Jazsmin Halliburton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Federal Aviation Administration will be officially cutting thousands of flights a day, starting Friday at 40 major airports across the country, due to the ongoing government shutdown. The affected airports include those with flights to and from Columbia Regional Airport.
The maximum reduction of flights will be 10%, but will start at 4% on Friday. The cuts will increase to 6% on Tuesday, then 8% on Thursday and up to 10% next Friday. Airlines will decide which specific flights to cut.
Three major airports that fly to and from Columbia Regional Airport are on the list of airports that will be seeing flight cuts (Dallas-Fort Worth International, Chicago O’Hare International and Denver International).
Columbia Regional Airport Manager Mike Parks told ABC 17 News, “At this time, I am unsure if it will directly impact COU flights. I’ve not seen any specific flight decisions, but will continue communicating with both airlines so we can share updates when we have them.”
American Airlines and United Airlines fly out of COU and both put out statements on social media Thursday regarding the flight cuts, stating customers can be refunded for flights without penalty or will be rebooked.
United Airlines will preemptively cancel about 200 flights starting Friday, roughly 4% of the airline’s Friday schedule and comprising mostly regional flights. It will cancel about 4% again on Saturday and Sunday.
American Airlines reduced flight schedules by 4% at 40 airports Friday through Monday, amounting to about 220 flights canceled each day.
Delta Air Lines has canceled around 170 regional and mainline flights that were scheduled on Friday, and more regional flights will be canceled. Around 100 Southwest Airlines flights will be canceled Friday.