US Travel Group Urges Congress to Reopen Government to Prevent Thanksgiving Travel Crisis

The U.S. Travel Association, along with hundreds of tourism companies, is urging Congress to reopen the federal government, warning of potential travel chaos for the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the month.

The federal government shutdown, now in its sixth week since Oct. 1, has left air traffic controllers working without pay, leading to staffing shortages that have caused flight delays and cancellations across airports nationwide.

In a letter to Congressional leaders on Nov. 3, the U.S. Travel Association urged Congress to immediately pass a “clean continuing resolution,” which would temporarily fund the government at existing funding levels, to reopen the government before the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 27, which is one of the year’s busiest travel weeks.

According to the letter, more than 20 million passengers took flights in the United States during Thanksgiving week last year.

The travel industry warned that the prolonged shutdown could suppress travel demand and hurt the economy, noting that the U.S. travel industry has already suffered $4 billion in losses due to the shutdown.

“The American people expect and deserve a fully functioning federal government during the peak holiday travel season,” the U.S. Travel Association and tourism companies stated in the letter.

“Congress must act without delay to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government immediately and ensure full federal operations are restored in advance of the Thanksgiving travel period.”

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman said in a press release that about 60 percent of Americans are reconsidering their travel plans as the shutdown continues.

“Air travel’s number one priority is safety and while safety will be maintained, travelers will pay a heavy and completely unnecessary price in terms of delays, [cancellations], and lost confidence in the air travel experience,” Freeman said.

The letter was signed by nearly 500 tourism organizations and companies, including Hilton, the Western States Tourism Policy Council, and the International Inbound Travel Association.

More than 3.2 million passengers have been affected by flight disruptions due to air traffic controller staffing shortages, according to Airlines for America, a trade group representing U.S. airlines.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNBC on Nov. 3 that the U.S. air traffic control system is short of 2,000 to 3,000 controllers. He noted that the government would “shut the whole airspace down” if the situation is deemed to be unsafe.

“You see more delays, you see more cancellations of flights, and that’s because we slow traffic down because we don’t have enough controllers in the towers and TRACONs to make sure we can navigate the flights. So, that’s a tool that we have to keep the system safe,” Duffy said.

“But if we thought that it was unsafe, we’ll shut the whole airspace down. We won’t let people travel. We’re not there at this point, it’s just significant delays,” he added, suggesting that air travel remains safe.

Flight delays rippled through U.S. airports, with 4,600 delays and 173 cancellations reported on Nov. 1, followed by 5,800 delays and 244 canceled flights on Nov. 2, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The FAA said on Oct. 31 that nearly half of the 30 busiest airports in the United States faced air traffic controller shortages, causing more than 6,200 flight delays and 500 flight cancellations. In New York, about 80 percent of air traffic controllers were absent that day, according to the agency.

Reuters contributed to this report.