SALT LAKE CITY — On Monday, it seemed passenger David Olson was one of the lucky ones.
“It actually went very smoothly. I went through security so quickly in MSP,” he said.
Even though his travel day was smooth, however, it doesn’t make his current situation any less rocky.
“It was a very hard decision. It was very heart-wrenching because we both want to be here,” Olson said.
He came to Salt Lake from Minneapolis for a business meeting, but he was supposed to be with another person.
“Because of the uncertainty of travel,” Olson said, "the safest way was if only one of us came. If I don't make it back, the world will continue without me, but if both of us didn't make it back, that wouldn't be good.”
Salt Lake City International Airport
Cancellations, delays at SLC Int'l continue despite possible end to shutdown
For Olson, it seems business meetings now have much higher stakes.
“As a small business, we have been suffering greatly by the non-stop uncertainty based on who wakes up on the wrong side of the bed each morning,” Olson said.
While steps have been made to reopen the government, it hasn’t happened yet.
“Right now, it's day to day,” said aviation expert Chad Kendall from the Metropolitan State University of Denver. "As far as cancellations that take effect in the airlines at the major airports around the country, that's what we're seeing currently. Expect that to continue until the government reopens."
Kendall said when the government does reopen, it may take the airlines 24 to 48 hours to open scheduling to full capacity.
“Think of it like a highway closure. Once the highway opens back up, the traffic is still there. It just takes a little while to get the traffic cleared up,” he explained.
Some things, however, will take even longer, considering air traffic control was dealing with a shortage prior to the shutdown.
“I would expect to see some airport delays related to ATC staffing as we move a little bit after the government reopens. That may take a week or so,” Kendall said.
Nancy Volmer, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City International Airport, said given the circumstances, they have been handling it the best they can.
“Salt Lake City has been very fortunate because we have not been seeing a lot of impacts in regards to workers showing up for work. We have operationally been flowing very smoothly,” she said. "We've had fewer numbers coming to the airport, but it is going to start ramping up.”
Whether they were a passenger, an airport worker, or an aviation expert, they all agreed that they can’t take much more of the uncertainty.
“I was here when we had the previous government shutdown, and I don't recall there being this much of uncertainty,” Volmer said. "It really is hard to compare this to something else, because I really have not seen anything like this before.”
“This isn't a political disagreement anymore. We have a lack of mobility from passengers not being able to move around, whether for business or pleasure, like they would like to,” Kendall said.
“I feel the government is not on our side, and we are trying to make an honest living, and there is no certainty. There's no predictability,” Olson said.
Officials encourage passengers to arrive two hours early to the airport if flying domestically and three hours early if flying internationally.
They encourage people to have their airline notifications on and to contact the airline to seek alternate options to rebook if facing a cancellation.
To monitor TSA wait times and for more information, visit slcairport.com.
