The Tri-Cities Airport will see flight disruptions as federal aviation authorities curtail flights to ease the strain on unpaid air traffic controllers and maintain safety, but what those disruptions will look like is not yet known. 

“Unfortunately, we’re like the passenger. We find out the same time they find out,” Buck Taft, the airport’s director, said about the status of flights during a Nov. 6 press conference that included U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington. 

The FAA has called for a 10% reduction in flights at 40 high traffic airports across the country. It noted that this past weekend there were 2,740 delays at various airports. 

The Pasco airport is not on the list but nine of the 10 airports that have routes in and out of the Tri-Cities are. The only airport that doesn’t is the Phoenix-Mesa airport served by Allegiant. 

Taft said travelers should regularly check the status of scheduled flights with their airline to determine if they will be affected by planned cancellations. 

Buck Taft, director of the Tri-Cities Airport, said travelers should regularly check the status of scheduled flights with their airline to determine if they will be affected by planned cancellations.

| Photo by Nathan Finke 

Newhouse met with Tri-Cities air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Administration workers and other federally-funded aviation workers to understand how the federal shutdown is affecting them. 

“Outwardly it looks like it’s going very smooth, and, thankfully, inwardly it is going smoothly,” Newhouse said during the press conference. “How many people would do that for 37 days now, do their very important jobs without getting paid?” 

Newhouse said he is hearing reports from the Senate of potential movement that could lead to the end of the shutdown. However, he said it was completely avoidable from the start. 

“I’m not proud of this at all. I think we should be in Washington, D.C. I think Congress should be doing its job,” he said.