Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

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The federal government shutdown could end once the House votes on a deal later this week to reopen it, but disruptions to air travel are likely to continue beyond that date. 

From Friday through Monday, Delta Airlines and Skywest have topped the list of cancellations and delays, according to data from 

. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is a hub for both airlines. 

As of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Skywest remained at the top, reporting 264 canceled flights across North America; MSP reported more than 40 cancellations. 

Air travelers face frustration as FAA increases flight cuts 

, executive editor of the Thrifty Traveler, joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition for an update on those key airlines and contingency plans as Thanksgiving nears. 

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Listen to the conversation by clicking the player button.

It’s Tuesday. That’s usually a lighter travel day, right? 

Exactly. There are some things that are working in travelers’ favor as we get further into the week, and then some things that aren’t so good coming ahead. Tuesday is a lighter travel day, as is Wednesday, so that’s going to give airlines, especially Delta, some breathing room to catch up. But on the other hand, this is the first day where airlines, after the DOT mandated cutbacks to flights starting at 4 percent late last week, that's ramping up to 6 percent today, and then by the end of the week, it goes up to 10 percent. And even with the end of the shutdown apparently in sight, there’s no sign that those cutbacks are going to be rescinded. So we’re not out of the woods yet. 

Fortunately, I think Minneapolis has escaped some of the contributing circumstances that have made air travel really gnarly for other travelers, especially up and down the East Coast, as well as in Chicago and Detroit, because we haven’t had some really nasty weather. That really has been one of the things that has caused a big snowball effect for airlines in other parts of the country. So by and large, there still have been cancellations. There still have been lengthy delays in and out of MSP, but we haven't seen the kind of full-scale meltdown that I think everybody rightly was scared about a couple of days ago. 

How does the whole situation underscore how fragile the system is? 

I mean, let’s keep in mind every single time a single airplane takes off — a metal tube at 500-plus miles per hour that gets up to 35,000 feet in the air — it is a miracle, and it is a miracle that it happens thousands of times a day without any incidents, and on time. And so this is an incredibly complex system where one small change, one small labor issue, one big government shutdown can cause some massive, massive problems that snarl air traffic nationwide. 

It feels like make-or-break time for folks considering whether they want to cancel their ticket for Thanksgiving. What's plan B?

I think people are clearly considering their alternatives, whether it’s hopping in the car or maybe a train, if it is a realistic option. We started to see some data from the Aviation analytics company Cirium yesterday that Thanksgiving airline ticket bookings have 

 as this shutdown has dragged on and as the prospect of cancellations is still looming. But I do think that things are, knock on wood, going to be better once we get further into November and into Thanksgiving travel week. But I don’t think we can say for sure that there aren’t going to be disruptions, period. They may just not be quite as bad as what we’ve experienced over the last few days. 

It’s not like the system can reset itself quickly if the House votes to reopen the federal government? 

Exactly. There’s no way to snap your fingers and say, OK, everything is back to normal again. I mean, air traffic controllers across the country have been working without pay for 40-plus days now. Those paychecks aren’t going to go out right away, and if and when they do, that air traffic control workforce is smaller than it was 40 days ago because Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that on a normal day, pre-shutdown, they were losing four or so controllers a day to retirements or exiting the workforce. Today, that’s more like 15 or 20. So there’s going to be some ground to make up, and it’s going to take some time. 

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Since Friday, Delta Airlines and Skywest have topped the list of cancellations and delays, according to data from FlightAware. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is a hub for both airlines. 

Thrifty Traveler talks Thanksgiving trips and Delta hub disruptions

Thrifty Traveler talks Thanksgiving trips and Delta hub disruptions during, after shutdown

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