JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax is now hearing from the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it would cut 10% of air traffic at 40 major airports around the U.S., starting Friday, because of the continuing government shutdown.
JAA sent this statement to Action News Jax after we asked if it was aware whether or not the Jacksonville International Airport (JIA) is one of the 40 affected airports:
“We have not been informed whether JAX is on the list. Team JAX will be prepared whether we are on the list or not. Either way, the system (not just those 40 airports) will be impacted.”
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The FAA, during its announcement, said it plans to release the list of affected airports to the public sometime on Thursday. The administration said the decision was being made, largely, because of burnout from some of the air traffic controllers who have been working without a paycheck since the government shutdown began five weeks ago.
“We are starting to see some evidence that fatigue is building in the system in ways that we feel we need to, to work towards relieving some of that pressure,” Bryan Bedford, the administrator for the FAA, said during the administration’s announcement.
Action News Jax went to JIA to see how travelers are reacting to the news. Since multiple major holidays are only a few weeks away, some are nervous about the possibility of the shutdown lasting through the end of the month, potentially affecting their Thanksgiving travel plans.
“I can’t even imagine what will happen then, if the FAA is at 10% less than what it has been,” said Laura, who didn’t share her last name but had just flew in from New Jersey to visit her sister in Mandarin.
The FAA’s most recent report of air traffic numbers says it handles an average of 44,360 flights every day. A 10% reduction in air traffic would keep 4,436 of those flights on the ground every day. That adds up to more than 31,000 flights every week.
“This is going to hurt a lot of people,” said Dewey Heintz, who flew into JIA from Fort Worth, “It’s crazy. I don’t know how we will recover, but, hopefully, we will.”
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