Dozens of airports around the country are canceling hundreds of flights due to the ongoing government shutdown and eight of those connect with Lubbock’s Preston Smith International Airport.
What’s that mean to all of us flying in and out of Lubbock?
Kelly Campbell, the airport’s executive director, was kind enough to interrupt a vacation day to give us an update. Outside of making sure the airport is ready to handle flights whenever they come and go, she doesn’t have much more information yet.
“Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Austin, Dallas, Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby, Houston Intercontinental, all of them are on the list,” Campbell said of the airports Lubbock connects with.
Hundreds of flights, a small overall percentage, were canceled on Friday following orders by the Trump administration as the government shutdown leaves air traffic controllers working without pay, according to the New York Times.
One Southwest Airlines flight to and another from Denver were canceled Friday.
“But the best way for a passenger to know is through their airline, go to their website, use their apps, because the airport sure can’t tell you any better than those resources,” she said.
“They give us a schedule every month with scheduled flights, but any deviations from that – and there’s deviations every day, right? – just because of delays and cancellations, mechanicals, flight crew issues, whatever – that happens on a daily basis,” Campbell added.
“Our job is to have the airport, the facility, the airfield, the terminal building ready for passengers. We can’t control what happens with flight service with the actual flights and the FAA. It’s hard times, hard decisions,” she said.
For people planning flights in the next few days or weeks, Campbell said travelers may want to consider flying a day earlier.
“If it’s business that can’t be rescheduled or if it’s a vacation that they’ve planned for a year. Maybe there’s options to fly out a day earlier. People are just going to have to weigh that for themselves with the urgency of their trip,” she said.
“I have a flight next week too that I’ll have to decide what to do if things don’t change,” Campbell added.
