US airports hit by disruptions ahead of Thanksgiving travel boom
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The US aviation industry is facing a test of its resilience with record travel expected for the Thanksgiving holiday.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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WASHINGTON – US travellers faced some early disruptions to their Thanksgiving plans after air traffic at some of the country’s busiest airports was halted.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Nov 26 issued brief ground stops at LaGuardia and Newark airports, two of America’s busiest by passenger traffic, that have since lifted.
It has also issued a ground stop for John F. Kennedy International Airport that will last between 6.45pm and 8.30pm local time (7.45am to 9.30am Singapore time).
The US aviation industry is facing a test of its resilience with record travel expected for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The sector has only just bounced back from flight restrictions due to the government shutdown
By 7.30pm on Nov 26, the FAA’s national airspace operations portal showed an average 30-minute delay at Newark, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
Chicago O’Hare was seeing delays of over an hour due to weather, while Miami faced some 30-minute delays due to storms.
The FAA earlier said it expects this Thanksgiving period to be the busiest in 15 years, with industry group Airlines For America anticipating a record 31 million passengers will fly for the holidays. American Airlines Group forecast carrying 650,000 customers on 6,660 flights on Nov 26 alone. BLOOMBERG
