The FAA is still canceling or delaying flights at 40 high-traffic airports because of the government shutdown. As members of Congress are expected to vote on a shutdown deal on Wednesday, air travel disruptions for passengers continue.
News4 spoke with a traveler who slept overnight on a chair at Reagan Washington National Airport after her flight on Tuesday was canceled. She was trying to get from Louisville to Portland.
She got halfway there, her connection at Dulles International Airport was canceled, she took an Uber for $100 to get to Reagan and then she tried to get some rest.
“Pretty rough, pretty rough when you are this age. Not much fun. I never thought this would happen,” she said early Wednesday from the chair where she spent the night. “We tried to see if we could go downstairs, where it looked a lot more comfortable, but they told us ‘no.’”
She was hoping to finally be able to get on a flight Wednesday.
While Capitol Hill might be close to reaching an agreement to end the shutdown, it’s expected to take some time for flights to return to normal.
As of midday Wednesday, 32 flights at DCA were canceled, 29 flights at Dulles were canceled and 24 at BWI were canceled.
Many travelers News4 spoke with were frustrated.
“It’s an embarrassing time to be an American. It’s an embarrassing time,” one traveler said.
“I think it’s ridiculous. On the way over here, I had over a six-hour delay. It’s really impacting a lot of people. People can’t travel for work, for family, for other events. I think something needs to get done and done soon. We’ve got the holidays coming up,” another traveler said.
“I think it’s horrible how politicians, all of them, use us as pawns. Bargaining chips. That’s all it is. That’s all we are,” another traveler said.
Thirty-one million people are expected to fly nationwide this Thanksgiving. The hope is that the shutdown will end before the holiday travel crunch begins.
Get the D.C. area’s top news and weather delivered to your inbox every morning. Sign up for First & 4Most, our free newsletter.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
