Flight disruptions at Richmond International Airport ease as government shutdown ends

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A spokesperson with Richmond International Airport (RIC) confirmed flight disruptions are expected to ease as the holiday season nears, following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The evening of Wednesday, Nov. 12, President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill, effectively ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for unpaid federal workers and flight disruptions.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday, Nov. 7, that it would reduce flight capacity by 10% at 40 high-traffic airports across the U.S. While RIC was not included in the list of major airports.

On Thursday, Nov. 13, a RIC spokesperson said the airport would see a return to normal or near-normal flight operations as holiday travel begins next week, despite a RIC spokesperson telling 8News it was not seeing any impacts from the shutdown or recent FAA ruling.

The most affected day during the shutdown was Sunday, Nov. 9, per a spokesperson. Thirty flights were canceled from the 197 scheduled.

As of Nov. 13, the airport has six cancellations from the 182 scheduled.

"As is typical, no specific reasons are cited for the cancellations, although it is reasonable to expect that at least some of these are due to lingering reductions mandated by the FAA," a spokesperson said.