There is likely to be mounting chaos at 40 US airports on Friday as airlines start cancelling flights due to a government shutdown that has impacted air traffic control operations.
Flights to or from Ireland have not yet been impacted.
There are regular flights operated by multiple airlines to 35 locations across the US from Dublin.
However, none have been caught up in the first wave of cancellations, which are likely to first affect internal flights across the US.
RM Block
Two American Airlines flights from Dublin to Philadelphia and Dallas for late on Friday morning were scheduled to depart on time while flights connecting Ireland and the US over the weekend are also on schedule.
As the first day of disruption dawned, as many as 700 flights have been cancelled by the four largest airlines in the US.
The cancellations came in the wake of warnings from the US Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that said airlines would have to cut 10 per cent of their flights into 40 major airports by the end of next week to take the pressure of a system straining as a result of air traffic controller shortages.
“With continued delays and unpredictable staffing shortages, which are driving fatigue, risk is further increasing, and the FAA is concerned with the system’s ability to maintain the current volume of operations,” the agency said in an emergency order released last night.
Airports on the list that are served by flights from Ireland include the three New York-area airports, Logan Airport in Boston and Los Angeles and Chicago airports.
US airlines have said the cancellations will mainly impact regional and domestic flights and the reductions do not – as yet – apply to international flights.
However, there are fears that if the shutdown drags on and there are higher levels of absenteeism among more than 13,000 air traffic controllers forced to work without pay, the upheaval could spread.
