By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. flight cancellations have fallen sharply over the last day as air traffic control absences shrank just hours before the House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill on Wednesday to end a record-setting government shutdown.
Airlines in the United States canceled nearly 900 flights on Wednesday - the fewest in six days - under a Federal Aviation Administration requirement they cancel 6% of flights at the 40 busiest airports to address safety concerns.
Some airlines told Reuters they think the FAA will reduce a planned 8% flight cut on Thursday to 6%. Air traffic control absences accounted for just 1% of delays on Tuesday, compared with 5% on average before the shutdown, the FAA said.
Several airlines have canceled only around 6% of flights for Thursday.
DELAYS REDUCED SHARPLY
Mandated flight reductions are set to rise to 10% on Friday. Flight operations are improving dramatically, with just 750 delays on Wednesday compared with 4,000 on Tuesday and nearly 10,000 on Monday.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said air traffic controllers will get a lump sum payment equal to 70% of their back pay within 48 hours of the shutdown ending.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC he thinks the aviation system will be largely back to normal this weekend, but said the recent cancellations will cost the airlines a significant amount. "By the weekend, I think things should be in good shape," Bastian said.
Air traffic absences have led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays since October 1, when the shutdown began. Over the weekend, 1.2 million passengers were delayed or had flights cancelled due to air traffic controller absences.
The shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.
The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. Many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul, Rod Nickel)
