At least one flight into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport has been canceled because of a directive from the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce flights due to an air-traffic controller shortage linked to the ongoing federal government shutdown.Breeze Airways Flight MX816 was due to arrive at 6:56 p.m. Saturday from Orlando International Airport but has now been canceled.>> Manchester-Boston Regional Airport arrivals and departures“Flight MX816 was one of 32 Breeze flights cancelled due to the FAA’s directive to reduce flights yesterday,” Breeze Airways officials said in a statement. “At this time, all required cancellations for next week have been made and no additional changes are expected.” Anyone with a ticket for an affected flight can change to another nonstop flight at no additional charge, according to the airline. >> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <> Subscribe to WMUR’s YouTube channel <<
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
At least one flight into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport has been canceled because of a directive from the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce flights due to an air-traffic controller shortage linked to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Breeze Airways Flight MX816 was due to arrive at 6:56 p.m. Saturday from Orlando International Airport but has now been canceled.
>> Manchester-Boston Regional Airport arrivals and departures
“Flight MX816 was one of 32 Breeze flights cancelled due to the FAA’s directive to reduce flights yesterday,” Breeze Airways officials said in a statement. “At this time, all required cancellations for next week have been made and no additional changes are expected.”
Anyone with a ticket for an affected flight can change to another nonstop flight at no additional charge, according to the airline.
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There are two other flights into Manchester for Saturday that have been canceled, though it is not known if they were canceled because of the FAA directive:
Canceled: Southwest Flight WN1767, originally due to arrive at 8:10 a.m.Canceled: American Airlines Flight AA5623, originally due to arrive at 4:49 p.m.
Retired air traffic controller Colin Scoggins said that between six-day work weeks and not getting paid, there’s a lot of pressure on air traffic controllers right now. He believes fewer flights will help.
“If you get down to 10%, which is probably about 4,000 aircraft today, that’ll make it easier,” he said. “It will ease the burden.”
Officials urged travelers to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.
Earlier this week, the FAA directive limited the number of flights through 40 major airports, including Boston’s Logan Airport. Manchester-Boston Regional Airport was not on that list, but flights from affected airports do go through Manchester.
“MHT has not been directly affected by the FAA’s recently announced 10% reduction in flight operations across the national airspace system,” Manchester airport officials wrote on the airport’s website. “While several major hub airports and connecting cities are included in the FAA’s reduction list, currently, flights operating to and from MHT are proceeding on schedule. We would recommend all passengers to please check with their airline for the latest flight information. We’re grateful to all our employees, particularly our federal partners, for keeping MHT running smoothly.”
See the full list of affected airports below:
ANC — Anchorage InternationalATL — Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta InternationalBOS — Boston Logan InternationalBWI — Baltimore/Washington InternationalCLT — Charlotte Douglas InternationalCVG — Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky InternationalDAL — Dallas LoveDCA — Ronald Reagan Washington NationalDEN — Denver InternationalDFW — Dallas/Fort Worth InternationalDTW — Detroit Metropolitan Wayne CountyEWR — Newark Liberty InternationalFLL — Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood InternationalHNL — Honolulu InternationalHOU — Houston HobbyIAD — Washington Dulles InternationalIAH — George Bush Houston IntercontinentalIND — Indianapolis InternationalJFK — New York John F Kennedy InternationalLAS — Las Vegas McCarran InternationalLAX — Los Angeles InternationalLGA — New York LaGuardiaMCO — Orlando InternationalMDW — Chicago MidwayMEM — Memphis InternationalMIA — Miami InternationalMSP — Minneapolis/St Paul InternationalOAK — Oakland InternationalONT — Ontario InternationalORD — Chicago O`Hare InternationalPDX — Portland InternationalPHL — Philadelphia InternationalPHX — Phoenix Sky Harbor InternationalSAN — San Diego InternationalSDF — Louisville InternationalSEA — Seattle/Tacoma InternationalSFO — San Francisco InternationalSLC — Salt Lake City InternationalTEB — TeterboroTPA — Tampa International