U.S. airlines are kicking off an unprecedented effort to shake off the travel chaos caused by the government shutdown and reboot their networks in time for the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period.
Carriers large and small are adept at bouncing back from all manner of travel disruptions, from bad weather to technology outages. But after the longest federal closure in U.S. history, the complex work of rearranging pilot and crew schedules is made even more knotty by lingering government-mandated flight cuts and unpredictability over when air traffic controllers who have been absent will return to their posts.
"If you are planning to travel in the next three to five days, do not assume that it’s going to be business as usual,” said Henry Harteveldt, the founder of Atmosphere Research Group, which advises the industry.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.