Bay Area air travelers confront cancellations as federal shutdown drags on

As reductions in flight traffic mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration took effect Friday morning prompted by the executive shutdown now into its sixth week travelers arriving at Bay Area airports faced vital flight delays and a ground stop The FAA publicized Wednesday that it would reduce air traffic by at major aviation hubs across the country to maintain safety as air traffic controllers show signs of strain including at San Francisco International Airport and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport SFO was put into a ground stop shortly before a m due to staffing according to an advisory issued by the FAA As of a m the airport was experiencing average ground delays of one hour and six minutes according to a second FAA advisory Air traffic controllers have been working unpaid since the shutdown began Oct and the bulk have been on duty six days a week while putting in mandatory overtime With specific calling out of work due to frustration taking second jobs or not having money for child care or gas staffing shortages during specific shifts have led to flight delays at a number of U S airports The traffic reduction will roll out over the subject of several days with Friday s traffic expected to be reduced by about The cuts will increase to Saturday Sunday and to the final cut next week Spokespeople for SFO and OAK had not received formal notifications of whether the airports would be impacted Wednesday but a list distributed to airlines and obtained by the Associated Press indicated that both would see flight reductions San Jose Mineta International Airport was not on the list and a spokesperson mentioned Thursday the airport would continue operations as usual Several airlines including Delta America and Southwest indicated Thursday that the majority of travelers would not be impacted by the flight reductions Air traffic controllers have gone unpaid for more than a month during the authorities shutdown with several working mandatory overtime shifts as air control towers see staffing shortages This is a emerging review Check back for updates The Associated Press contributed to this review