What’s your favorite thing about flying? Ours is all of the overpriced airport snacks. 😋🍫 Oh, and you can’t board a flight without a tabloid or two! Gotta keep up with the Kardashians at every altitude. 💅
The government’s back open, but airports are still getting back to their regularly scheduled programming. 🛫 If you’re flying across the country to visit family and friends, read up on this before you hit the trail.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on flying after the government shutdown:
- ⌛ Waiting Game - In case you missed it, the recent government shutdown threw a big wrench into nationwide air travel. It caused major staffing shortages in air control and federal employees went weeks without paychecks. As a result, thousands of flights were either delayed or canceled every day.
- ✈️ Back In Business - This week, the FAA ended the flight-reduction emergency order it put into place. To cope with staffing shortages (and to keep everyone safe), the plan started with a 4% cut in flights across 40 U.S. airports. That eventually ballooned up to 10%, but now, business is returning to usual.
- 🧳 Recovery Plan - Experts say it could take several weeks before air travel gets back to normal. Although we’re starting to see a reduction in shutdown-related delays and cancellations, reported flight disruptions are still in the thousands.
- 🦃 Turkey Trot - According to FAA data, roughly 3 million Americans travel by air across 44,000 flights every single day. The days around the Thanksgiving holiday are some of the busiest of the year.
- 🧑💻 Know Before You Go - If you’ve got upcoming flight plan, check their status often. Don’t leave the house until you do! If your flight gets canceled, call your airline’s customer service line or head to their website. Already at the airport? Visit them at the airline’s help desk to get rebooked.
🔥Bottom line: To all of our friends braving the elements on the pilgrimage to grandma’s, we wish you the best of luck. God speed and we wish you a quiet flight free of screaming babies and gross coughers. Got a Black Friday game plan? Head here to get some tips on how to make the most of this year’s holiday sales.
Are you traveling this holiday season?
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