U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown. That appears to include Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport, but not at the rates seen in larger airline hubs.
The website FlightAware, as this story was published, tracked over 1,300 cancellations nationally. Delta Airlines, reportedly, had seventy four cancellations, to date, or 2% of its flights. American Airlines cancelled fifty four flights, or 1%. Smaller carriers like Azul Connecta reportedly lost thirty nine percent of its flights, or thirteen in total.
The numbers at Birmingham/Shuttlesworth are much smaller compared to larger cities like Atlanta, New York, or Boston. However, FlightAware data apparently shows a growing trend. The website showed no flight cancellations at the Magic City on Thursday, three on Friday, and fifteen (updated) today so far…