Juneau flights have not yet been affected by federal flight restrictions, according to Alaska Travel Desk, which has been monitoring flights and delays.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced last week that it would be mandating a 10% reduction in flights across 40 of the country’s busiest airports, including Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.
The FAA mandated the reduction as a safety measure as airports face a shortage of air traffic controllers amid the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history.
Juneau-based travel agency Alaska Travel Desk said they have tracked only one Juneau plane cancellation since the FAA’s restrictions, which was a freighter flight into Juneau yesterday and was labelled as a weather-related cancellation.
“While we’re seeing reductions by Alaska & Delta Air Lines, flights to and from Alaska so far are not affected,” Alaska Travel Desk partner Nate Vallier wrote in a press release.
While major airport flights to and from Alaska remain unaffected, connecting flights from Sea-Tac have faced cancellations. Alaska Airlines released a flexible travel policy as flights are affected by FAA delays and cancellations.
Air traffic controllers nationwide have been working without pay since the beginning of the government shutdown. The FAA said pilots and air traffic controllers have increasingly reported strain on the system.
Airports across the country faced 4,500 cancellations and 18,000 delays over the weekend, NPR reported, citing data from the flight tracking website FlightAware.
The FAA mandated a 4% reduction in flights at the busiest airports last week, increasing it incrementally until a 10% reduction on Friday.
