Thursday, Nov. 6 – 1:15 P.M. Pacific Time
In light of ATC staffing shortages due to the ongoing government shutdown, the FAA has directed U.S. airlines to reduce flights at 40 domestic airports. We have assessed our schedule and begun canceling a limited number of flights effective Friday, November 7. The FAA’s directive is expected to remain in place until further guidance is issued and the shutdown concludes. International flying is not expected to be impacted.
We are sorry for this unexpected disruption. We know that when guests book their travel with Alaska and Hawaiian, they are trusting us to get them to their destination safely, on time and with the care both our brands are known for. As we assessed the FAA’s directive and our schedule, we worked to ensure smaller and remote communities that are reliant upon air travel are protected. Most of our cancellations are on routes with a higher frequency of flights, allowing most guests to be reaccommodated with as little disruption as possible.
Guests whose flights are canceled will be reaccommodated on other flights as available or offered a full refund. Those whose flights are impacted will receive communication directly from Alaska and Hawaiian. We have also issued a flexible travel policy that allows guests to adjust their travel during this uncertain time. We encourage all guests to check the status of their flights on the Alaska or Hawaiian app or our websites alaskaair.com and hawaiianairlines.com to utilize self-service rebooking options.
We remain grateful to every air traffic controller and TSA or CBP officer who is working without pay to keep air travel functioning safely. We continue to strongly urge our federal leaders to reach an immediate resolution and end the shutdown.