Travelers Wonder About Impacts to Hector International While FAA Cutback Looms

The airport is not one of the 40 that will see its flight volume cut by 10% on Friday, but every airport that flies direct from Hector is on that list.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Employees of the Federal Aviation Administration are considered essential workers, so they’ve kept showing up through the shutdown, but they’ve now missed two paychecks, and frustrations are climbing.

Hector International is not one of the forty airports in the United States that are going to see their flight volume cut by 10 percent on Friday.

However, every airport that Hector flies direct to or from is on that list.

Shawn Dobberstein, executive director of the Fargo Airport Authority said in a statement that, quote “I have not been advised of any flight impacts to/from Fargo. It is always possible Fargo passengers could be impacted by a connecting flight change once they arrive at the hub airport such as MSP, DEN, ORD and DFW.”

The Metropolitan Airports Commission, in charge of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said something similar in their statement, which reads in part: “As of now, MSP is experiencing normal operations. However, if reductions are enacted, travelers should be prepared for flight disruptions at MSP and other airports across the country.”

Time will tell just how disruptive these cutbacks will be – but experts are warning people to have backup travel plans, especially if the shutdown continues as we get closer to the holidays.

United Airlines has announced it will pre-emptively cancel roughly 200 flights for Friday, while Delta will cancel around 170.

Both of those airlines fly to and from Hector International.