Travel

The Department of Homeland Security is suspending frequent flier and quick-processing programs for travelers at airports and U.S. border crossings starting Sunday, a DHS official confirmed.The programs include the Transportation Security Administration's TSA PreCheck, which allows vetted passengers to forgo customary security check-in lines for quicker passage, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Global Entry, which offers similarly rapid check-ins for Americans at U.S. ports of entry.The suspension, first reported by The Washington Post, will start at 6 a.m. ET Sunday, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.The DHS funding shutdown started Feb. 14 as the White House and Senate Democrats negotiate changes to DHS and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agen...

President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated criticism of air traffic controllers who have been absent during parts of the record-long government shutdown, when they’re required to work without pay.During a Fox News interview, Trump discussed the employees who in some cases have had to take on second jobs to pay their bills amid a funding lapse that will hit the six-week mark on Tuesday.“You know, a lot of people who showed up also had a second job. They took a second job temporarily. But they all know the money’s coming, and the money was coming," Trump told host Laura Ingraham.Air traffic controllers are classified as essential government workers, meaning they must show up for work during a shutdown, even though they're not getting paid. Members of the military, who are also essential ...

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday urged Congress to quickly pass the bipartisan bill that would end the government shutdown and the flight disruptions that have plagued the country for nearly a week."If the House does its work tomorrow, we're well on our way" to getting air travel back to normal, Duffy said during a news conference at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.But if lawmakers don't act fast, Duffy warned that the disruptions are likely to get worse ahead of Thanksgiving week, one of the busiest travel times of the year. "This is the Super Bowl of air traffic controlling," Duffy said.Some airlines, Duffy warned, are already talking about "grounding their planes" if the government doesn't reopen soon.Duffy spoke on the same day the major airlines cancelled 6% of t...

Mere hours before the federal government reopened Wednesday, the Department of Transportation announced flight reductions will freeze at 6% thanks to strong staffing levels and a "rapid decline" in air traffic controller callouts.The new emergency freezing order will scrap the previous plan to ramp up reductions to 10% by Friday, and will remain in place "as the FAA continues to assess whether the system can gradually return to normal operations," the Department of Transportation said.The cuts were put in place to alleviate pressure and strain on pilots and air traffic controllers — federal employees who have gone without pay for more than a month.Officials attributed the freeze to favorable staffing conditions, with just 11 staffing triggers reported on Tuesday and four on Wednesday —...

He said that the victims were identified by DNA, medical records and dental records, and that testing was completed less than 24 hours ago. He added that all of the family members had been notified."I hope that with this certainty, their grieving can continue and turn to healing, and that they can begin to find ways to move forward, to recover from this trauma and find joy and happiness in life once again, knowing it will be never be the same without their loved one," Greenberg said.Jefferson County Coroner Jo-Ann Farmer said at the news conference that "there's almost a sense of relief" among officials and the families that all of the bodies have been accounted for."I had a family member ask me yesterday, 'How do you ever get used to this? And I said, 'I don't,'" she said. "If I get us...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed a bill that reopened the government after 43 days, paving the way for airlines to restore regular flight schedules and air traffic controllers, who have not been receiving pay as they worked through the shutdown, to return to work.But it remains unclear when full flight schedules and paychecks will be restored after the Federal Aviation Administration was forced to mandate flight restrictions at 40 high-traffic airports last week. On Wednesday night, the FAA ordered that cancellations would remain at 6% on Thursday, after two days at that rate and an initial plan to ramp up to 10% by Friday. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 1,000 flights within the U.S. had already been canceled for the day, and more than 2,000 were delayed, according ...

The Federal Aviation Administration has ended its flight-reduction emergency order, allowing air travel to resume normal operations. The emergency order was officially lifted Monday at 6 a.m. ET, ending the reductions that caused mass cancellations and delays at airports. The cuts, which started with a 4% reduction in flights at 40 major airports on Nov. 7, were designed to address fatigue and staffing issues among air traffic controllers amid the record-long government shutdown. It’s being rolled back now that staffing levels have “stabilized” with the end of the government shutdown Wednesday, the FAA said.The decision, which comes at the beginning of the busy Thanksgiving travel period, was made following an FAA review of "safety trends" and because of "the steady decline of staffing-...

The Trump administration has officially withdrawn a proposal that would have compensated airline passengers for significant delays caused by issues within a carrier's control.Though the move was announced in September, the Transportation Department formalized it in the Federal Register on Monday. It said it was withdrawing the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking submitted under President Joe Biden in December. Under the Biden-era plan, passengers would have received reimbursements based on how long delays lasted. The scale began at $200 and went up to $775 for delays that lasted at least nine hours.The proposal, which was never enacted, would have aligned U.S. regulation more closely with airline rules in Europe. A spokesperson for the department said last week that the Biden-era prop...

Travelers passing through John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 4 faced delays Sunday after operations went “down” around noon, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.The agency did not immediately provide details about the outage but said it was resolved a few hours later. Passengers had reported long, stagnant lines as early as 11:20 a.m."An assessment was conducted by technicians and the internet connection is now back online," the Port Authority said. "The team is working on getting passengers on their way safely and as soon as possible.”Delta Air Lines, which operates out of Terminal 4, was not affected, according to the Port Authority.Claudia Hernandez, a traveler in the terminal, posted a video on X showing what appeared to be long lines. She said t...

Severe weather throughout the country threatens widespread disruptions during what's expected to be a record-high Thanksgiving travel week.A tornado watch is in effect for parts of southeast Texas, including Houston, until 7 p.m. CT. Isolated large hail and damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph are also possible. A flood watch remains in effect for parts of northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma and southwest Arkansas, including Texarkana. Those areas are forecast to get 1 to 3 inches of rain in a short period of time. Travel is expected to be slow across parts of east Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and the western Gulf Coast on Monday. A family check in for a flight ahead of the holidays at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Friday.Tony Gutierrez / APA separate storm system affecting the n...