A ground delay is impacting O’Hare International Airport on Saturday morning as union members of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) picketed outside.
As the government shutdown enters day 39, many of the PASS unionemployees are working without pay or have been furloughed. They said they are picketing to “call public attention to the impact the government shutdown is having on aviation safety and the personal toll it is taking on their families.”
PASS members represent about 11,000 FAA and Department of Defense employees.
They will picket starting at 10 a.m. between Terminals 2 and 3.
On Saturday morning, a ground delay was issued at O’Hare Airport until 8:29 p.m. due to staffing. Departures to Chicago are delayed an average of 44 minutes.
O’Hare is one of the airports across the country seeing flights reduced. Airlines began cutting flights on Friday in response to a mandate from the U.S. Department of Transportation to reduce air traffic by 10% at 40 “high-volume” airports.
As of Saturday, 83 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport and 16 flights were canceled at Midway International Airport. CBS News Chicago will continue to provide updates.
United Airlines is offering a list of affected flights on its website. Anyone who booked a United flight is asked to check the updated list for more information on cancellations. The airline said they’re avoiding cuts between their hub airports, like O’Hare, Denver and Houston, if they can.
“Since this situation is fluid, customers are notified as soon as a cancellation decision is made,” American Airlines officials said in a statement on Friday. “There’s no way to tell how much advance notice will be given or any timeline. the best thing is to sign up for notifications.”
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