Gemma (16) and Renzo (16), twins, were already at the gate at San Francisco airport on Friday afternoon when their flight to Phoenix was canceled. They got there very early, says Renzo. “We were afraid that the line at security would be very long.” Security personnel get in the United States as a result of the shutdown from the government has not been paid for weeks, which occasionally leads to long waiting times.
The line wasn’t too bad, but the shutdown would make visiting their brother in Arizona impossible. To spare overworked air traffic control, airlines canceled a total of thousands of flights from Friday. The two had heard that on Thursday, but also thought that it would not be so bad on the first day. Renzo: “We were mainly worried about whether we would get back from Phoenix on Sunday.” Now their mother is coming to pick them up again.
For Americans who do not work for the federal government and do not rely on food stamps, the longest shutdown in history could remain a distant memory for a long time. But after more than a month, the government shutdown is starting to penetrate deeper into the lives of Americans and the economy, with no end in sight.
Cancel flights
At the government’s insistence, US airlines are canceling thousands of flights in the coming days: a slightly higher percentage every day, up to 10 percent of the daily 45,000 flights by the end of this week. The measure is intended to reduce the workload of air traffic controllers: the lack of pay leads to high absenteeism, and therefore to a lot of work for those who are in the control towers.
“It would be unfair to claim that this shutdown will not create insecurity in the system,” Transport Minister Sean Duffy threatened earlier this week. According to Duffy, many air traffic controllers have now taken on a second job to make ends meet, something the union also endorses. This increases manpower shortages, which were already enormous before the shutdown. 3,000 of the 14,000 positions are not filled.
On Friday, on the first day of cancellations, the consequences at many major airports were not too bad. Only a handful of flights had been canceled at San Francisco airport, mostly to destinations within the state of California. But that does not alter the fact that the impact of the measure is great: the millions of Americans who will fly in the coming days have ended up in a kind of lottery and do not know whether their flight will continue.
Those who can leave San Francisco on Friday were almost always stressed about it on Thursday. Dutchman Paul ter Horst (52) has just returned from a certification and compliance conference and is waiting for a flight to Dublin. “Practically everyone at the conference was American. They were in trouble yesterday.” He himself was less concerned, international flights seem to be at the back of the queue for cancellations.
The shutdown was a big theme at the conference anyway, says Ter Horst. “Many companies in the sector work with government organizations. All that work has been at a standstill for weeks.”
Medicines are gone
Further on, Phoebe Goodman (37) sits on a bench, engrossed in her cell phone. Her flight to Boston on Sunday just got canceled, she happens to be at the airport to return a rental car. Goodman is now unsure whether to book another flight on Sunday, she is looking at options. “But then I just have to hope that the flight doesn’t get canceled.” She really has to be home on Monday, the stock of medicines she has with her will have run out.
Goodman thinks the shutdown is becoming “frustrating”. “Politicians must learn to make compromises,” she says, without wanting to point a finger at either party. “People should not fall victim to an inability to work together.” She does not blame the air traffic controllers, she emphasizes.
Although the pressure on air traffic control is actually high, Republicans also seem to be using the large and widely felt impact of the aviation shutdown to put pressure on Democrats. The government previously required airports to play videos in terminals in which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed long lines at security on Democrats (many airports refused to do so).
Travelers waiting at San Francisco airport.
Photo Gabrielle Lurie/AP
Duffy is now sketching dramatic vistas. He said the cancellation rate could increase much further, towards 20 percent by the end of this month. During that period, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, which is accompanied by a massive domestic migration. The usually languishing rail company Amtrak is preparing according to The New York Times now available for additional bookings around this holiday.
Democrats were anything but impressed on Friday. The party feels strengthened by last Tuesday’s extremely successful elections, and recent polls also show that public opinion appears to be slowly turning against the Republican attitude. There was no movement at the Capitol on Friday. Democrats did formally propose a compromise, but under conditions that Republicans are known not to accept.
At the airport in San Francisco, teenagers Gemma and Renzo try to come to terms with the fact that the weekend will be different than they had imagined on Friday afternoon. Gemma: “I think we’ll just go home and see our brother another time.”
Do they know why there are no flights? Renzo: “I heard that it is because the government is closed. I don’t know why that is. But it has to be solved.”
Gemma: “Yes, quite a bit.”
Renzo: “It is very confusing.”
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