Here’s how many flights have been canceled out of Southern California airports since Friday
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
The government shutdown has led to numerous flight cancellations and delays coming into and out of Southern California airports over the weekend.
Roughly 217 flights out of SoCal airports were canceled since Friday, when the Federal Aviation Administration’s flight reductions began, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Los Angeles International Airport, the region’s busiest airport, suffered the highest number of delays and cancellations in the area.
As of Monday at 5:30 a.m., 129 departing flights had been canceled out of LAX since Friday. One hundred and thirty-four arriving flights had been canceled as well. Another 110 departures and 109 arrivals were canceled at San Diego International Airport.
Comparatively, other airports throughout the country fared worse than LAX on Monday.
Just 3% of flights out of LAX were canceled Monday, compared with 8% out of New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International and 10% out of New York’s LaGuardia. Chicago O’Hare saw 11% of its outbound flights canceled.
Meanwhile, 3% of flights out of LAX experienced delays.
The cancellations and delays stem from the government shutdown, which has left air traffic controllers working without pay, leading to staffing shortages across the country.
As a result, the FAA called on airlines at 40 airports, including LAX, San Diego International Airport and Ontario International Airport in Southern California, to reduce operations by 4% Friday. They are under orders to ramp that up to 10% by next Friday.
Major carriers were downplaying the affect of the reductions, as NPR reported. A United Airlines executive told the news outlet that the airline would try to minimize the impact on customers. “If there is a silver lining here, [it’s] that we are not in peak travel period now,” David Kinzelman, a senior vice president for airport operations, told NPR.
But with no end to the government shutdown in sight, the situation is likely to worsen.
Travel experts share tips on what you can do if your flight is canceled amid FAA cuts to air traffic due to the government shutdown.
“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” said Bryan Bedford, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Experts have said that booking flights that are nonstop is best. The lack of stops reduces the chances that your flight will be delayed or canceled. Also, experts say, avoid routes that use smaller planes, as those are likely to be the first that are canceled.
Morning flights are also safer bets than afternoon or evening ones, as the crew is usually already at the airport.
Staff writer Summer Lin contributed to this article.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
So-Cal Edison likely sparked the Eaton Fire. CEO Pedro Pizarro gives host Kate Cagle his pitch for the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program amid lawsuits accusing the company of negligence.
In this special “Rebuilding L.A.,” Kate Cagle examines fire recovery and resilience. Featuring Rick Caruso on rebuilding the Palisades a year after the fires.
In this specially released bonus episode, An entire bank heist crew was caught – except for one man. And he could have maybe kept it this way if he hadn’t decided to blow up that gosh darn ATM. L.A. Times journalist Nathan Solis tells the story in this week’s bonus episode.
