Travelers face delays after shutdown causes flight reductions
By Kristen Consillio
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HONOLULU (KITV) — Travelers flying in and out of Honolulu face potential delays due to a government shutdown affecting federal workers.
Some passengers landing in Honolulu are hearing the news for the first time today. With thousands of flights up in the air across the country, some at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport are anxious that they could be in for delays and disruptions.
Malama Togia’s been planning for months to visit her family in Samoa and now she has to worry about her travel plans and safety.
“It is a lot of frustration for the travelers, for people working at the airport,” Togia said. “Safety also comes first. And if that happens, people walking out of their jobs and stuff like that, how are we able to fly safely?”
Togia is among the thousands of travelers caught in the middle of the government shutdown that’s led to air traffic controllers, TSA and other unpaid federal workers walking off the job which has disrupted flights across the country.
“The people have to work to make a living right with this going on around here, them not being able to get paid, they have bills to pay,” Togia added. “Also, it’s not good, even myself too. I’d be worried if I’m the one working here, not only for my safety, but for theirs too.”
The turn of events was also alarming for Kai Barrett, who was catching an international flight on Thursday after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it’s reducing flight capacity by 10% to ensure safe operations.
“It’s definitely a little more worrisome because to some people 10% may not seem like a lot,” Barrett said. “But ideally at the end of the day on Hawaii, like 10% of the flights is a major amount, especially flying into major cities or even just flying back here.”
There are 200 flights per day coming out of Honolulu airport, a 10% reduction would affect about 20 flights.
Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines, which make up over half of the total flights here, said a vast majority of flights will not be impacted and any affected travelers will be accommodated.
“So today, hopefully all goes well, but definitely coming home going to be a little bit more worried, but we’ll see,” Barrett said. “Hope it’s smooth.”
The Hawaii Department of Transportation is planning a to have a press conference on Friday morning to explain the overall impact at Honolulu airport.
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