| Transwilts Cancellations - twice as many as the USA flight reductions Posted by grahame at 06:36, 8th November 2025 |     |
Yesterday, 4 out of 18 trains that were due to call at my local station were cancelled. That's just over 22%. It's nothing to do with weather, with an ongoing problem with the track or (heaven forbid) a person hit by a train. It's because GWR didn't have enough drivers and/or train managers available who could run the service. Yet again!
The news from the USA is of the US government shutdown ... and my news feeds (my wife was originally from the USA and follows this closely) are live with the news and calamity for so many people of that.
From The BBC
Air travel will be cut by up to 10% at 40 major airports, resulting in thousands of cancelled flights, in the coming days if the US government shutdown continues, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced.
The decision, which will impact domestic flights only, was made because air traffic controllers had been reporting fatigue, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, are working without pay - or are on forced leave - because the US Congress has not agreed to a funding budget.
Major airports in Atlanta, New York and Washington DC will be affected by the reduction in service.
"Our number one job is safety. This isn't about politics – it's about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue to work without pay," Duffy said in a statement.
Unions say many employees are becoming ill with stress or are being forced into taking second jobs.
On Wednesday, the federal government funding impasse became the longest shutdown in US history.
"It is unusual," said FAA chief Bryan Bedford of the planned flight reductions, "just as the shutdown is unusual, just as the fact that our controllers haven't been paid for a month is unusual."
The flight reductions will be gradual, starting at 4% of domestic flights on Friday. It will rise to 6% by 11 November and 8% by 13 November, before hitting a full 10% by 14 November.
The decision, which will impact domestic flights only, was made because air traffic controllers had been reporting fatigue, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
Some 1.4 million federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, are working without pay - or are on forced leave - because the US Congress has not agreed to a funding budget.
Major airports in Atlanta, New York and Washington DC will be affected by the reduction in service.
"Our number one job is safety. This isn't about politics – it's about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue to work without pay," Duffy said in a statement.
Unions say many employees are becoming ill with stress or are being forced into taking second jobs.
On Wednesday, the federal government funding impasse became the longest shutdown in US history.
"It is unusual," said FAA chief Bryan Bedford of the planned flight reductions, "just as the shutdown is unusual, just as the fact that our controllers haven't been paid for a month is unusual."
The flight reductions will be gradual, starting at 4% of domestic flights on Friday. It will rise to 6% by 11 November and 8% by 13 November, before hitting a full 10% by 14 November.
But yet ... the US system, even at this time of crisis, is talking of only half the cuts (10%) we have here in Wiltshire where 22% is not a surprise. Makes me think.
