US Senate passes bipartisan spending package in a bid to end longest gov't shutdown
2 weeks ago
The record-long US government shutdown is affecting a growing number of industries, with the latest developments showing a sharp reduction in airline capacity. Media reports say the cuts stem from a surge in absenteeism among air-traffic and aviation-safety personnel, many of whom are working without pay during the shutdown.
A Chinese expert noted that the reduction in flights and the shortage of air-traffic controllers are an inevitable consequence of the shutdown, warning that the impact will extend beyond the aviation sector to tourism, services trade, educational exchanges and mobility of staff within multinational companies.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Friday that he could force airlines to cut up to 20 percent of flights if the government shutdown did not end, as US airlines scrambled to make unprecedented government-imposed reductions, according to a Reuters report on Saturday.
The report said the Federal Aviation Administration instructed airlines to cut 4 percent of flights on Friday at 40 major airports because of the government shutdown. The cuts will rise to 10 percent by November 14, the report added.
As of press time, a total of 13,000 air-traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay, leading to increased absenteeism, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, many air-traffic controllers were notified on Thursday that they would receive no pay for a second pay period next week.
"The result will force airlines to absorb higher operating costs, undermining their long-term sustainability. Both US carriers and international airlines operating flights to the US will likely have to reduce capacity, pushing up travel costs," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Saturday.
Fewer flight options and higher fares will weigh in on business travel and commercial exchanges with the US, further dampening market and corporate confidence, Zhou said.
Airlines for America, an air-trade association, said it is working to comply with the FAA's order to cut flights, while mitigating disruption for travellers, but it won't be easy, a BBC report on Saturday said.
"More than 3.5 million passengers have experienced delays or cancellations because of air-traffic-control staffing concerns since the shutdown began," according to the FAA, the BBC reported. The association added, "This simply is not sustainable."
The shutdown has already had broad impacts across daily life in the US. Some effects are now clearly visible, including disruptions to food assistance for low-income households, delays in public-health monitoring and early-education programs, and reduced capacity in air-traffic control.
Reports showed that the prolonged US government shutdown has intensified the disruption to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as the food stamp program, leaving millions of dependent households facing growing risks of food insecurity.
Reuters said SNAP benefits could lapse for 41 million people due to the shutdown. The US administration said it will comply with a federal court order to issue partial benefits this month, but has repeatedly warned the money could take weeks to reach SNAP recipients, read the report.
For many of people, the start of November has brought confusion, concern and painful choices as the food aid program lapsed for the first time in its 60-year history, per Reuters.
Meanwhile, hundreds of former US National Park Service employees are urging the US administration to protect parks by closing them, according to media reports. They said that activities taking place in the parks — including illegal extreme sports — highlight the serious problems of keeping the parks open with little or no staff.
In addition, the shutdown has begun to affect early childhood education. Some Head Start centers serving low-income families have already been forced to close, and local authorities are scrambling to secure temporary funding to keep programs running, Stateline reported. Head Start, which provides early education and developmental support to more than 700,000 children nationwide, relies almost entirely on federal funding — making it particularly vulnerable under the prolonged shutdown.
Other consequences are unfolding more gradually, such as stalled federal spending, suspended economic data releases that complicate policy decision-making, and slower processes for IPOs and business financing, experts said.
The US federal government has been in shutdown since the beginning of October - the first of its kind in nearly seven years - after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement. It has now lasted a record 38 days.
If the shutdown continues, its impact may extend to a wider range of public services, including customs, food-safety supervision, urban traffic management and even prison operations, all of which could face disruptions, Zhou said.
He further noted that if US diplomatic missions abroad remain unable to function normally for an extended period, coordination in international affairs could be hindered, dealing a blow to the country's foreign relations and its capacity for global governance.
Zhou stressed that the impact of the shutdown is "asymmetric" — the transition from normal operations to a shutdown and the recovery back to normal do not take the same amount of time, and the cost of restoring stability is significantly higher. As a result, the shutdown will not only hit the aviation sector but could also have deeper and lasting consequences for the US' political functioning and broader economic system.
