Glacier Park Airport Minimally Impacted by Shutdown
Contracts have kept air traffic controllers and TSA staff on the payroll throughout the government shutdown at the Kalispell airport while a strained nationwide system continues to cause cancellations and delays at regional hubs
By Maggie Dresser
As the record 40-day-long government shutdown continues to disrupt nationwide airlines after federal officials last week announced a temporary reduction in flights, Glacier Park International Airport (GPIA) Director Rob Ratkowski says Kalispell’s services have not been significantly impacted since restrictions began on Friday.
While nationwide air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing shortages have resulted from a lack of pay during the shutdown, staff at GPIA have remained on the payroll due to finalized contracts between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airline providers that existed prior to the funding lapse.
“The FAA contracts with the service provider for staffing in the control towers here and those contracts were all funded and appropriated quite some time ago,” Ratkowski said. “They weren’t subjected to the same funding mechanisms.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA officials last week announced a 10% reduction in flights at 40 high-traffic airports across the country, which is attributed to the staffing shortages and a “strain on the system” from pilots and air traffic controllers, according to an FAA news release. A 4% reduction already went into effect on Friday.
“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement. “The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.”
Unless a deal is made, which has seen progress after Democratic senators backed a deal on Sunday that could end the shutdown, the 10% reduction is expected to take effect by Nov. 14.
During the first weekend in November, there were 2,740 delays at various airports, according to FAA.
According to FlightAware, there were 26,938 delays and 3,498 cancellations on Sunday while there were 20,862 delays and 2,545 delays as of Monday afternoon across the nation.
Of the 40 affected airports, Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Seattle-Tacoma and Portland provide direct connections to GPIA this time of year.
But as of Nov. 10, Ratkowski said GPIA has been minimally impacted.
“We’ve lost a handful of flights,” Ratkowski said. “Delta canceled the noon Salt Lake flight for a few days, but that’s the only impact we’ve seen.
As of Monday afternoon, Delta Airlines announced the cancellation of 280 mainline and 215 connections out of more than 5,200 flights scheduled for Nov. 10.
“We’ll just see how it winds up,” Ratkowski said.