WASHINGTON — The Trump order to airlines to cancel 10% of their flights at 40 major U.S. airports was expected to have truckle-down impact on hub-feeder regional airports. These include RST and LSE with their flights to Chicago and Minneapolis. Trump’s transportation secretary ordered the cancellations because of a shortage of federal air controllers due the government shutdown, now in its 37th day. The shutdown has been triggered by Trump’s insistence that Congress go along with his priorities to:
Affected hubs. About 2.9 million people a day fly on 45,000 U.S. flights.
> Eliminate the 15-year-old Obamacare healthcare assistance for vulnerable people.
> Eliminate SNAP nutritional assistance, also for vulnerable people.
> Impose huge tariffs that are forcing consumer costs higher.
> Continue sloppy execution of a deportation campaign in which hundreds of law-abiding people have been arrested.
> Change tax policy to shift personal wealth more to already-rich people.
The cuts on air service widen Trump’s calculation to inflict pain on large pubic constituencies. Although the air cuts ostensibly were due to an aviation staffing shortage, the shortage was caused by Trump’s government shutdown.