Greyhound steps up as government shutdown grounds flights, disrupts air travel

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FILE: Greyhound bus (Credit: Greyhound)

As the government shutdown continues to impact air travel, Greyhound is stepping up to meet travel demand. 

Flix North America CEO Kai Boysan said that with ongoing uncertainty in air travel, the company wants travelers to know they can rely on intercity buses like Greyhound and FlixBus.

Federal government shutdown impacts air travel

The government shutdown is impacting air travel across the United States. Fox Multimedia Reporter Sarah Alegre joins LiveNOW with an update on the latest.

What they're saying:

"As travelers face continued uncertainty with air travel, we want people to know they still have dependable options," Boysan said in a statement to FOX Television Stations. "We’re seeing strong early bookings heading into the holiday weekend, and our teams are prepared to accommodate anyone needing a reliable and affordable way to reach their destination. Situations like this highlight the important role intercity buses play in enabling connectivity and providing people with affordable and reliable transportation when other modes of long-distance travel are not available or get disrupted."

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Government shutdown impacting air traffic

Dig deeper:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday that the government shutdown is putting more stress on air traffic controllers who already have an extremely stressful job, as well as threatening a program that small communities rely on to help subsidize airline service.

RELATED: Government Shutdown 2025 Update: New fears over furloughed backpay

Controllers are expected to continue working without a paycheck, Duffy said, so they are now worried about how to pay their bills in addition to worrying about keeping flights safe. And there have started to be instances of controllers calling out sick, leading to delays at several airports Monday.

House GOP leaders on government shutdown

Republican lawmakers deliver remarks on day 8 of the government shutdown.

Duffy said there has already been a small uptick in controllers calling out sick in a few places. Anytime that gets worse and creates a shortage of controllers, the FAA reduces the number of takeoffs and landings to ensure controllers aren’t overwhelmed and the system remains safe. But that creates delays and possibly cancellations. Near the end of the 35-day shutdown during the first Trump administration, there were widespread flight delays because of shortages of controllers.

By Monday evening, the FAA was reporting that staffing shortages were creating delays in the Burbank, Newark and Denver airports. The worst problems were in Burbank, where California Gov. Gavin Newsom said no controllers were on duty during the evening, leading to average delays of two-and-a-half hours at that airport.

Government shutdown still lingering 

The backstory:

As the government shutdown entered a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

No negotiations, at least publicly, are underway, but behind the scenes quiet talks are emerging. Clusters of lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, are meeting privately, searching for ways out of the impasse, which hinges on striking a deal for preserving health care subsidies.

Jeffries, Lawler clash on Capitol Hill over shutdown

Shutdown tensions on Capitol Hill erupted into a shouting match on Wednesday. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) confronted Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about ObamaCare.

The Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the upper hand politically, as they fend off Democratic demands to quickly fund health insurance subsidies as part of any plan to end the shutdown.

But so have Democrats dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to prevent the looming health care price spikes and blaming Trump for the shutdown.

Why did the government shut down?

Why you should care:

At its core, the debate is over the health care issue that has tangled Congress for years, and in particular, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that Trump tried, and failed, to repeal and replace during his first term at the White House.

Congress increased the federal subsidies that help people purchase private insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal aid was popular, and it boosted ACA enrollment to a record 24 million people. Those enhanced subsidies are set to expire at year’s end.

Republicans say Congress can deal with the health insurance issue in the months ahead. Democrats are fighting to resolve the problem now, as people are receiving notices of higher policy rates for the new year.