I would expect the airlines to ad hoc create a reduced master schedule in the interim until capacity is restored. They do this for major holidays, but many months in advance. Here they will be doing 72 hours in advance. Flights won't get "cancelled" they'll be NOOP (Not Operating) which is different. As an Ops Chief, this is heaven (while losing money). Tons of spare planes available. Lots of time to work on backlogged maintenance on the planes. Major headache is parking: it's not easy to have too many idle aircraft for a sizable carrier. Stowing them overnight becomes a choke-point.

> Has anybody modeled what this does to the overall system?

At this point I'd be more concerned about safety than secondary effects so I think they are making the right call. At the same time the economic impact will be massive.

The longer it goes on, I expect another statistic which is once the backpay check clears, people quit. Because this is bullshit. The backpay will not cover the financing costs of going into debt to cover bills, food, rent, mortgage. The government should foot that bill, but I don't think they will.

Aren't you tired of winning already? I certainly am.

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In my mind this is how you’re spending your holidays

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VTD96WhhC9w&list=RDVTD96WhhC9w...

Publix holiday commercials were something else

After my last horrible domestic flight experience, several trips to Japan, and watching an ungodly amount of Miles in Transit videos, I actually considered just doing 100% Amtrak for an upcoming trip.

Problem is, I live in Utah. The daily California Zephyr pulls into Salt Lake Central at 3AM, way after all the connecting public transit has shut down for the night. So just getting to the train will probably involve a night Uber at what I assume is extraordinary expense. Not to mention it's in the run-down industrialized car park part of downtown, not the nice part with the mall and LDS temple.

Additionally, Utah's class 1 railway is Union Pacific, a dogshit hedge fund running a decrepit railroad that clogs up downtown with shittons of long, slow freight trains[0]. Which means the California Zephyr is one of the most frequently delayed Amtrak services, even with Amtrak levels of padding. So that 3AM train could easily wind up being delayed several hours, and any connections through Chicago are almost certain to get missed. Not to mention it's a three day ride, which is a lot of time to spend on a train without access to a shower[1].

So Amtrak here is the worst combination of inconvenient and slow. I've heard the scenery on the Zephyr is absolutely amazing, though.

I ultimately wound up booking SLC - JFK and a connecting Amtrak from Penn Station to Pittsburgh, which turns out to be about the same time as SLC - JFK - PIT by air. In fact, the air layover is so long JetBlue won't sell you a connecting ticket.

However, I'm now afraid that itinerary is going to get wrecked by this stupid government shutdown, and if that happens I'm pretty sure I'm just out the money for both the plane, train, and hotel.

With infrastructure like this, why would anyone want to vacation in this awful country?

[0] To the point where pedestrians often ignore grade crossing warnings, expecting a slow freight train they can outrun, only to be turned into a fine red mist by a FrontRunner train going 80mph.

Also, if you're reading this and live in Utah, please tell your local representatives to support the Rio Grande Plan: https://riograndeplansaltlakecity.org/

[1] Please correct me if it turns out there are public showers for coach passengers.

I have to believe that they'll get their shit together before Thanksgiving. If this petty standoff ruins people's holidays, there will (hopefully) be hell to pay at the next election.

Are any getting paid?

It should be a constitutional amendment that congress and the president get no pay during a shutdown (with no back pay) and pay a $1000 / day fine for each day that it remains closed. And shutdown for a month should trigger elections.

Most of the establishment are rich enough to not care, but more junior representatives would suffer.

It would become a war of attrition where the richest win because they can afford to.

I'll give you a hint about all cities in the great us of a. https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-map-showing-trumps-004...

Out of touch billionaires are running the show, insulated from the problems they are creating. They are people who never have to set foot in a grocery store, worry about paying for a doctor's visit or, importantly here, fly commercial.

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Divisiveness and extremism from both parties, when moderates are badly needed. On the issue of the shutdown specifically, there was some belief that Democrats (Schumer in particular) would approve a CR (resolution to fund the federal government) after the second “no kings” protest or perhaps after the election, like maybe it was a political tool they wanted to use for election gains. But it seems they’re content with just letting the shutdown continue indefinitely unless the COVID era “temporary” expansion of ACA subsidies is extended - which is effectively trying to make it permanent.

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> Why is a shutdown even possible?

Because much of what the US government does, including paying most of its employees, is funded by annual appropriations, which are only valid for one particular fiscal year. As soon as that fiscal year ends and a new one starts, if new annual appropriations haven't been passed for the new fiscal year (or something else that provides funds, like a Continuing Resolution), all those things have to stop because there's no money to fund them any more.

There's no Constitutional requirement for all those things to be funded by annual appropriations; the only restriction the Constitution imposes is that no appropriation "to raise and support Armies" shall be for more than two years. It's just how the budgeting process has evolved.

> If there’s no agreement just use what was already law before

That won't work quite as you state it because "what was already law before" expired at the end of the last fiscal year.

A Continuing Resolution is an attempt to extend "what was already law before" for some period into the new fiscal year (in the case of the one passed by the House in September that was until November 21). But it still has to be passed as a law--it doesn't just happen automatically. Congress could put something in place to do that (since there's no Constitutional bar to that--see above), but they never have.

Other countries call it "Loss of Supply".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_of_supply

Usually it is interpreted as a loss of confidence in the government, resulting in the formation of a new government or the calling of an election. Potential loss of power is a pretty good incentive for a government to find a sensible solution.

Fun fact: this didn't happen before 1980 when the courts started enforcing the anti deficiency act.

I'd say certain countries in Europe give us a run for our money: https://caw.ceu.edu/other-activities/academic-blog/politics/...

better, US can move essential services to a separate budget and keep it away from this shutdown nonsense.

Have you lived in London or Paris? There are WEEKLY strikes on public transportation. I now live in the US and rarely a day goes by that my teammates across the pond don't complain about how bad the trains are to commute to work, half the time its because of a strike.

In short, horse trading. That is, if you have leverage in an adversarial negotiation, you'd be foolish not to use it to get more of what you want.

For example, as a prospective employee, if I knew that I was the only qualified candidate the employer had interviewed, and they really needed someone within a week, I'd know that I can ask for more salary. If I instead take the middle of the salary range, just because it's maximally acceptable to both parties, I'd be missing out

If they've funded all of the things they have consensus on, what would motivate them to fund the things they disagree about?

Not if a significant fraction of people drive.

Its more important to brutalize your citizens with ICE.

Not sure if it matters much, to be honest. Even if another airport wasn’t on the list, chances are good it’s connected to at least one that is on the list. Less planes coming in, less planes going out.

All the major airports. Just looks up the top airports in the US they will all be impacted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_i...

Official announcement tomorrow.

Anchorage International

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International

Boston Logan International

Baltimore/Washington International

Charlotte Douglas International

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International

Dallas Love

Ronald Reagan Washington National

Denver International

Dallas/Fort Worth International

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County

Newark Liberty International

Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International

Honolulu International

Houston Hobby

Washington Dulles International

George Bush Houston Intercontinental

Indianapolis International

New York John F Kennedy International

Las Vegas McCarran International

Los Angeles International

New York LaGuardia

Orlando International

Chicago Midway

Memphis International

Miami International

Minneapolis/St Paul International

Oakland International

Ontario International

Chicago O'Hare International

Portland International

Philadelphia International

Phoenix Sky Harbor International

San Diego International

Louisville International

Seattle/Tacoma International

San Francisco International

Salt Lake City International

Teterboro

Tampa International

The MAX WAS 4 hours, its well under an hour now.

Maybe better to get rid of some of the security theater that we also like to scrutinize with good reason.

Unreal. Traveling is just not worth it right now.