KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Of the 40 high-volume airports in the United States that will have reduced air traffic by 10% starting Friday morning, 33 of those have flights to or from Kansas City International Airport.
KCI is not on the list of airports impacted by the Federal Aviation Administration's announcement Wednesday to reduce air traffic.
“I think there's going to be less airline seats available," Acendas Travel President Richard Aquino said.
"We're likely to see prices rise, not greatly, but there'll be prices (that will) rise.”
He said consumers should be thinking beyond their flight when it comes to smart travel planning.
“That hotel that you have booked, or that cruise, they might not be as flexible as an airline would be in this case,” he said.
Although Aquino does recommend trip insurance, he said you should double check what your policy covers beforehand.
“Make sure that you check with your insurance company to make sure that it is covered,” he said. “In fact, some policies out there will only cover if your trip is canceled for 50% or more.”
For many passengers, this means navigating potential flight delays and cancellations.
‘I started kind of getting a little anxious, because I'm like, gosh, I need to get home,” Kate Schroeder said. “If there's any sort of mess around that, I don't want to get on a plane and get stuck somewhere.”
Schroeder was flying home to Portland, and will be flying out of Portland again next week.
“I guess I feel a little bit lucky I'm on the front end of some of this, because I imagine in a week or so, it's going to be kind of hectic,” Schroeder said.
Some passengers like Joe Bardowski are already reacting.
“United sent me an email this morning and said there's delays and they're cutting back a certain percentage of flights. So, I was scheduled to leave tomorrow, so I moved it up to today to avoid that and get ahead of that,” Bardowski said.
The agency is confronting staffing shortages caused by air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay since the government shutdown began Oct. 1.
Some controllers have called out of work during the ongoing shutdown, resulting in numerous delays nationwide.
The full list of major airports with flights to or from KCI :
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)
- Boston Logan International (BOS)
- Baltimore/Washington International (BWI)
- Charlotte Douglas International (CLT)
- Dallas Love (DAL)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA)
- Denver International (DEN)
- Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)
- Newark Liberty International (EWR)
- Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International (FLL)
- Houston Hobby (HOU)
- Washington Dulles International (IAD)
- George Bush Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
- Indianapolis International (IND)
- New York John F Kennedy International (JFK)
- Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS)
- Los Angeles International (LAX)
- New York LaGuardia (LGA)
- Orlando International (MCO)
- Chicago Midway (MDW)
- Miami International (MIA)
- Minneapolis/St Paul International (MSP)
- Oakland International (OAK)
- Chicago O`Hare International (ORD)
- Portland International (PDX)
- Philadelphia International (PHL)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)
- San Diego International (SAN)
- Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA)
- San Francisco International (SFO)
- Salt Lake City International (SLC)
- Tampa International (TPA)
Travelers scheduled to arrive at one of the airports mentioned in the list above, Orlando International Airport, faced hours-long delays on the night before Halloween.
The FAA confirmed the holdups were caused by staffing shortages, and a ground delay was issued for the airport.
The travel disruption came just days after thousands of air traffic controllers missed their first full paycheck due to the shutdown.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned there could be "mass chaos" next week if the shutdown continues long enough to keep controllers from getting their next paychecks on Tuesday.
