US domestic passenger flights could virtually shut down, voluntarily or by government order.
By Andy Pasztor and Alison Sider / from the WSJ
Major U.S. airlines are drafting plans for a potential voluntary shutdown of virtually all passenger flights across the U.S., according to industry and federal officials, as government agencies also consider ordering such a move and the nation’s air-traffic control system continues to be ravaged by the coronavirus contagion.
No final decisions have been made by the carriers or the White House, these officials said. Rather, as airlines struggle to keep aircraft flying with minimal passengers, various options are under consideration.
Before the pandemic, U.S. airlines habitually operated more than 8.4 million flights annually, but amid mandatory stay-at-home orders covering some 80 million U.S. residents, airline executives, pilot-union leaders, and federal transportation officials said they increasingly view as inevitable further sharp reductions from already-decimated schedules in passenger flights.
U.S. airlines have already eliminated the vast majority of international flights and have announced plans to cut back domestic flights by as much as 40%. Travelers are staying home at even greater rates. The Transportation Security Administration reported that passenger flow at its checkpoints was down more than 80% Sunday from the same day a year earlier.
U.S. airlines, including American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc., canceled over 40% of scheduled flights Monday, according to Flightaware.com, a flight tracking site.
Airlines are preparing for the possibility that contagion-driven staffing emergencies at air-traffic control facilities could force the issue, making it impossible to continue operating in parts of the country.
President Trump and his advisers have been reluctant to mandate a cessation of commercial flights nationwide, some of these officials said, partly because passenger jets also carry a large portion of U.S. mail and essential cargo shipments. Over the weekend, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House’s virus task force, told CNN, “There’s no plan today, or tomorrow, to seriously consider” mandating an end to domestic passenger air travel.
But in the past few days, according to some of these officials, the prospect of an eventual halt has increased for various reasons.
One important factor is that Federal Aviation Administration officials fear that additional positive tests for Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, among agency controllers and technicians who maintain their equipment could unravel the nation’s air-traffic control system.
Nearly a dozen traffic-control facilities from New York to Chicago to Las Vegas have been temporarily closed to disinfect and clean them, with many more employees at home on self-quarantine while others are being investigated for potential contacts with infected workers.
So far, longstanding FAA contingency plans have managed to deal with the closures by imposing temporary flight restrictions, rerouting planes, and shifting responsibilities among backup facilities and employees.
Inside the agency, though, concern is growing that new employee infections, especially at key locations, could upend existing contingency options. In some cases, replacing controllers removed from their radar screens would be extremely difficult because it typically takes months of training to get them up to speed to do specific jobs.
Another option to keep cargo shipments flowing would be a White House decision to call up portions of what is called the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF), essentially commercial jets designated to help the Pentagon with logistics and other needs during national emergencies.
Once activated by the White House or the Pentagon, those planes could help carry general cargo, military medical staff, medical equipment, or other supplies.
The CRAF fleet, intended to augment the military’s traditional airlift capacity, includes some 400 planes from about two dozen carriers. The Pentagon and White House didn’t immediately respond to The WSJ requests for comment.
A safety bulletin issued Monday by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations, the umbrella labor group for commercial aviators, illustrates the challenges of maintaining even today’s reduced level of passenger trips.
Among other things, the nonbinding guidance urges airlines to devise crew schedules that keep teams of pilots together, thereby reducing potential infections of other pilots. Normally, pilots are paired on a more short-term basis as they fly schedules over weeks or months.
