WASHINGTON — Airlines canceled more than 2,200 US flights on Sunday and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned air travel will fall to a “trickle” in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday as air traffic control staffing shortages surge during the federal shutdown.

Major airlines were dealing with a third day of government-mandated flight cuts after thousands of delays and cancellations snarled traffic on Saturday. The shutdown, which has reached a record 40 days, has led to shortages of air traffic controllers who, like other federal employees, have not been paid for weeks.

“It’s only going to get worse… the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle,” Mr. Duffy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

Millions of people usually travel in the run-up to Thanksgiving, one of the most important US holidays, which this year falls on November 27.

“Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up,” Mr. Duffy said.

Sunday’s cancellations were the single worst day for flight cancellations since the shutdown began on October 1.

DAILY FLIGHTS CUT

The Federal Aviation Administration instructed airlines to cut 4% of daily flights starting on Friday at 40 major airports because of air traffic control safety concerns. Reductions in flights are mandated to reach 6% on Tuesday and then hit 10% by November 14.

Many airlines have already planned their cancellations for the coming days. United Airlines, for example, will cut 190 flights on Monday and 269 on Tuesday, the company said.

As of 4:20 p.m. ET (2120 GMT) on Sunday, data from flight tracking site FlightAware indicated there had already been 2,215 US flight cancellations and more than 7,200 delays as conditions looked to be worsening. The Federal Aviation Administration earlier in the day said it had staffing issues at 12 towers.

A growing number of air traffic controllers have retired since the federal shutdown started on October 1, Mr. Duffy said. The FAA is 1,000 to 2,000 controllers short of full staffing, he told CNN.

“I paid experienced controllers to stay on the job and not retire,” Mr. Duffy said. “I used to have about four controllers retire a day before the shutdown, …now up to 15 to 20 a day are retiring.”

Some 1,550 flights were canceled and 6,700 were delayed on Saturday, up from 1,025 cancellations and 7,000 delayed flights on Friday.

Airline officials privately said the number of delay programs made it nearly impossible to schedule and plan many flights and expressed alarm about how the system would function if staffing issues worsen.

The impact on air travel could hit US economic growth, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in an interview that aired on Sunday.

“Thanksgiving time is one of the hottest times of the year for the economy… and if people aren’t traveling at that moment, then we really could be looking at a negative quarter for the fourth quarter,” he told the CBS show “Face the Nation”.

Airlines for America, which represents major carriers, said staffing issues had disrupted more than 4 million passengers’ travel plans since October 1, when the shutdown began.

By next Friday, it estimated a daily US economic impact of $285 million to $580 million.

The cuts, which began on Friday morning, include about 700 flights from the four largest carriers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines.

During the shutdown, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been forced to work without pay.

Mr. Duffy had earlier said he could require 20% cuts in air traffic if more controllers stop showing up for work.

Republican US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said he was told by the FAA that since the shutdown started pilots have filed more than 500 safety reports about mistakes made by air traffic controllers because of fatigue. — Reuters

ISTANBUL — Turkey is working to ensure the safe passage of some 200 civilians trapped in tunnels in Gaza, after having facilitated the return of a deceased Israeli soldier killed there more than a decade ago, a senior Turkish official said late on Sunday.

Palestinian militant group Hamas earlier said that fighters holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area will not surrender to Israel and it urged mediators to find a solution to a crisis that threatens the month-old ceasefire.

Separately on Sunday, Israel said it received the remains of Hadar Goldin, a military officer killed in an ambush in Gaza during the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, after a handover by the Red Cross.

Turkey, the senior official said, “successfully facilitated the return of Hadar Goldin’s remains to Israel after 11 years” after “intensive efforts (reflecting) Hamas’ clear commitment to the ceasefire.”

“At the same time, we are working to ensure the safe passage of some 200 Gazan civilians currently trapped in the tunnels,” the official told Reuters.

Turkey was a signatory to last month’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, backed by US President Donald Trump. It has close ties with the Palestinian group and has fiercely criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. — Reuters

LONDON — The BBC’s boss and its head of news quit on Sunday following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

The BBC had been under mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper which cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, transgender issues, and a speech made by Trump.

Trump welcomed the departures, criticizing the two as “very dishonest people” after the BBC’s flagship Panorama program edited two parts of one of his speeches together so he appeared to be encouraging the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.

Tim Davie, who has led the British Broadcasting Corporation since 2020, defended the organization, saying its journalism was seen as the gold standard around the world. But he said mistakes had been made and he had to take ultimate responsibility.

Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News, also resigned. In an email to staff she said: “I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”

RESPECTED OVERSEAS, QUESTIONED OVER NEWS JUDGEMENT

Widely respected around the world, the BBC still tops polls in Britain on the most trusted news brand and has huge reach in the country, providing news, entertainment, and sport.

But the corporation, which is funded by a license fee paid by all television-watching households, comes under intense scrutiny from some national newspapers and critics on social media, which object to its funding model and perceived liberal stance.

It has in recent years been accused of failing to maintain its commitment to impartial news by critics on both sides of the political divide, struggling to navigate the fractious political and cultural environment.

The leaked internal report said BBC Arabic had shown anti-Israel bias in its reporting of the war in Gaza and that an effort to cover a group campaigning for single-sex spaces had been suppressed by a small group of staff who saw it as hostile to the transgender community.

In recent years it had struggled to contain multiple scandals. In one, Gary Lineker, at the time its most highly paid sports presenter, was suspended for criticizing the government’s immigration policy. That briefly led to many sports staff walking off the job in opposition.

It was condemned for showing punk-rap duo Bob Vylan chanting against the Israeli military at Glastonbury, and it pulled a documentary about Gaza earlier this year because it featured the son of a deputy minister in the Hamas-run government.

In the Panorama documentary broadcast last year, Trump was shown telling his supporters that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol” and that they would “fight like hell”, a comment he made in a different part of his speech.

He had actually said his supporters would “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women”.

Trump, in a social media post on Sunday, accused the two executives of having tried to influence a US presidential election.

“On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!” he said.

DAVIE DEFENDS BBC, NEWS BOSS DENIES BIAS CLAIMS

British culture minister Lisa Nandy thanked Davie for his work as director general, saying he had led the broadcaster through a period of significant change.

A person familiar with the situation said Davie’s decision had left the BBC board stunned and he would stay on for the next few months while a replacement was found.

Davie defended the corporation, saying it should be championed not weaponized due to its role in helping to build a healthy society and thriving creative sector.

But he said it was not perfect and he had made his decision after “reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times”.

The BBC, which has to negotiate a new charter with the government in 2027 to guarantee its finances, had appeared to struggle to respond to the recent run of negative headlines.

The chairman, Samir Shah, had been expected to apologize to lawmakers for the furor on Monday. — Reuters