Atlanta airport sees continued cancellations because of shutdown

On a frigid, quieter Tuesday, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is seeing more than 115 flight cancellations because of the government’s shutdown capacity reduction, according to FlightAware.com.

That’s far below Saturday’s surge of 370 because of air traffic control staffing and thunderstorms.

As the U.S. Senate voted on Monday on a deal to end the shutdown and the U.S. House could vote as early as Wednesday, federal workers including Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers entered Day 42 of working without full pay.

The airport’s security wait times remained relatively short much of Tuesday morning.

Given the morning’s frigid temperatures, departing planes were being sprayed with de-icing fluid, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ regional carriers are continuing to see the highest cancellation rates from the FAA directive.

Twenty-four percent, or more than 42 of Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air’s scheduled Atlanta flights were canceled Tuesday. Endeavor is a Delta Connection carrier. Just 1% of mainline Delta’s schedule, or 29 flights were canceled. And about half of Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines’ Atlanta schedule or 20 flights were canceled.

The FAA announced late last week it was requiring airlines to cut flights by 4%, increasing to 6% Tuesday, 8% Thursday and 10% by Friday. International flights are exempt.

The FAA has also largely cut off private jet traffic at airports including Atlanta.

As of Tuesday morning only about 65 flight cancellations on Wednesday for Atlanta were showing up in flight tracking data.

Delta is continuing to offer rebooking flexibility to all travelers through Nov. 14, though rebooked travel must be made before Nov. 21 in order to lock in the same fare.