US 10% Flight Cuts to Kick in Early Friday Morning

The US will cut flight capacity by 10% at 40 high-volume markets across the country, though international routes will be spared, to alleviate pressure on air traffic controllers and the aviation system during what is now the longest government shutdown in history. Bloomberg Chief Correspondent of Aviation and Transport, Siddharth Philip joined Bloomberg Intelligence to discuss.

Prospects are swiftly fading on Capitol Hill for a deal this week to end the longest government shutdown in US history despite warnings of worsening flight disruptions and mounting concerns about food aid for low-income Americans.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday he’s less optimistic about bipartisan negotiations in the Senate, where Democrats have demanded that Republicans address expiring health care subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the government.

Several Senate Democrats, including moderates in talks with Republicans to end the shutdown and more progressive colleagues who demanded that the party hold the line, met Thursday morning in Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.

Afterward, Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, told reporters that the standoff wouldn’t end until President Donald Trump was willing to negotiate on the renewal of health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

“As long as their position is we are not willing to talk to you, we are going to continue to struggle,” Coons said.

The effects of the shutdown, now in its 37th day, are compounding, with the US Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration announcing Wednesday that they would order airlines to cut 10% of flight capacity across 40 major airports to relieve staffing pressures. Air traffic controllers have worked without pay since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

Centrist Democrats have explored agreeing to a temporary measure in exchange for a promise of a Senate vote on the Obamacare subsidies. The agreement would also attach Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and legislative branch full-year spending bills to the stopgap — a move that would end uncertainty about food stamp and child nutrition benefits.

On Thursday Republicans made a formal offer to Democrats on the three full-year appropriations bills. They are also discussing a possible provision to reverse dismissals of approximately 6,000 federal federal employees that the administration has attempted during the shutdown, according to a Republican aide.

Yet Johnson on Thursday refused to promise a House vote on extending the subsidies, creating an obstacle for a Senate accord.

Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat who has been negotiating with Republicans, called Johnson’s refusal “a significant problem” and that he doesn’t see the shutdown ending soon, adding “we have to make sure we have a deal that we can get broad support for.”

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House’s top Democrat, signaled his party had been emboldened by its sweep of key races in Tuesday’s election, including the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey and the New York mayoral race.

“This is part of the reason Republicans were rejected all across this country,” Jeffries said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning a 15th vote Friday to begin debate on the House-passed stopgap. Republicans say this is just a first step toward amending the bill with a new version that includes the three full-year spending bills and a stopgap for the remaining agencies of government.

“We’ll find out how serious the Democrats are,” Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said of the Friday vote. “Nobody really knows where we are until we have that vote.”

Senators said they are planning to remain in Washington over the weekend to try to work out a deal.

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