With major airports across the country facing a 10% reduction in flights beginning Friday because of the government shutdown, the effects on Lehigh Valley International Airport remain to be seen.
“We don’t know,” Tom Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, which oversees LVIA, told The Morning Call on Thursday. “We can say that we know what airports that it’s going to affect. They are connecting airports [from LVIA].”
Those connecting airports on the list of 40 that have direct flights from LVIA include Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Philadelphia and Chicago O’Hare. The Federal Aviation Administration is imposing the reductions to take pressure off air traffic controllers, who are federal employees and have gone without pay during the shutdown.
LVIA spokesperson Colin Riccobon said travelers should keep in close touch with their respective airlines before leaving for the airport.
“We want to encourage passengers to continue to check with their airlines and monitor the situation over the next days and weeks ahead,” he said. “They should make sure to keep an eye on their travel arrangements.”
Air traffic controllers have gone without paychecks during the shutdown of the federal government, which is the longest in history. That’s led to controllers calling in sick and contributed to staffing shortages that have been affecting air travel for weeks.
Stoudt said the federal employees at LVIA including air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers have continued to work.
“We’re very fortunate to have a tremendous staff,” he said.
The airport recently had a “Fill the Bus” donation drive to help support those employees.
The long waits to get through security that have plagued other airports have not happened at LVIA.
“We’ve been very fortunate that it really hasn’t had an impact at our TSA checkpoint or at our FAA control tower,” Stoudt said. “So I’m not concerned about getting aircraft to and from ABE.
“What I don’t know is what the ripple effect is going to be nationally and I don’t think anybody knows at this point how that’s going to work,” Stoudt said.