US Government Shutdown on a Collision Course with Thanksgiving Holiday?

The Thanksgiving holiday period is always the busiest time of the year for the US airline and tourism industries. During this holiday, tens of millions of Americans travel long distances to return home and reunite with their families, putting pressure on the US transportation sector comparable to China's "Spring Festival travel rush."

However, this year, against the backdrop of the ongoing federal government shutdown, numerous flights in the US have experienced delays or cancellations. This means that Thanksgiving travel for Americans is likely to become even more chaotic.

On Monday, Eastern Time, the U.S. Travel Association sent a letter to the U.S. Congress, urging it to reopen the federal government before the Thanksgiving travel peak arrives. The US federal government shutdown has now lasted 34 days, approaching the historical record for the longest government shutdown.

In the letter, U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman warned Congress, "As the busiest travel period of the year—Thanksgiving—approaches, the consequences of an ongoing shutdown will be immediate, impacting millions of American travelers and causing catastrophic economic consequences for communities across every state."

As the US government shutdown drags on, flight delays by US airlines have continued to worsen, simultaneously affecting airport operations and impacting a cumulative total of 3.2 million passengers. The direct reason behind this is a significant number of absences among air traffic controllers due to the government shutdown.

Due to the shutdown, 13,000 US air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers are forced to work without pay. A significant number of air traffic controllers have had to miss work to seek part-time jobs to make ends meet, leading to chaos for tens of thousands of flights.