Weather, Controller Shortages Loom for Record Holiday Weekend

FAA said it will use traffic flow management initiatives during the Thanksgiving travel period to deal with any staffing shortages, and said it expects to have some shortages. [Credit: Shutterstock]

The FAA says it will throttle traffic over the holiday weekend to mitigate expected staff shortages.

The agency held a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) on Friday, and Administrator Mike Whitaker told reporters safety is paramount.

“During the Thanksgiving travel period, we will use traffic flow management initiatives to deal with any staffing shortages on that particular day in this airspace, and we expect to have some of those shortages," Whitaker said. "If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe."

Airlines have added thousands of seats to meet Thanksgiving demand, and the current estimates are that 31 million people will take off somewhere in the U.S., compared to 29 million in 2023.

Whitaker said the New York area will likely see the most controller-related issues. Weather will also likely cause problems. Cold, snow, and high winds are anticipated from the Mississippi to the Eastern Seaboard, thanks to a polar outbreak pushing in from the Canadian prairies.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

ATC FAA thanksgiving

Russ NilesAuthor

Russ Niles has been a journalist for 40 years, a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb in 2003. When he’s not writing about airplanes he and his wife Marni run a small winery in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.