US flight delays, cancellations grow

FAA mandates cuts amid safety concerns

- DAVID SHEPARDSON DAVID LJUNGGREN

Hundreds of thousands of travellers had their flights delayed or cancelled on Sunday in the worst day for disruptions since the start of a US government shutdown, as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned of worse to come in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Airlines cancelled more than 2,800 US flights and delayed more than 10,200 on Sunday in the third day of government-mandated flight cuts due to rising air traffic control staffing shortages, after thousands of delays and cancellations snarled traffic on Saturday.

The government shutdown, which has reached a record 40 days, has led to shortages of air traffic controllers who, like other federal employees, have not been paid for weeks.

"It's only going to get worse... the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle," Mr Duffy said on CNN's State of the Union show.

Millions of people usually travel in the run-up to Thanksgiving, one of the most important US holidays, which this year falls on Nov 27.

"Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn't open back up," Mr Duffy said.