Travelers expecting to fly out of Santa Barbara Airport are likely to be affected by the 10 percent reduction in flights ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration to begin on Friday. Flights that connect through any of the 40 major airports will be affected. Those headed to or through Chicago, Nashville, and New York have most been affected by the air traffic controller shortages that have been further exacerbated by the five-week government shutdown, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Reports of delays, at hubs major and minor, have been relayed anecdotally to the Independent since the government shutdown. Ron Meemanage of Santa Barbara Travel, one of the city’s oldest travel agencies, said they hadn’t heard of big delays out of Santa Barbara. “There are some at LAX and a few East Coast airports, particularly in the New York area,” Meemanage said. “Santa Barbara seems to be operating as close to normal as possible, with only occasional delays.”
Among Santa Barbara airport’s 12 destinations, 11 are on the list required to trim flights by 10 percent, said SBA Director Chris Hastert. (That list follows this story.)…