Critical House vote to dictate Southern Nevada’s tourism direction
As the 42-day government shutdown could be nearing its end, cancellations and delays continue at Harry Reid International Airport Wednesday.
At Reid Airport at midmorning Wednesday, 39 flights had been canceled and 26 delayed, including 28 cancellations and 15 delays for market leader Southwest Airlines. That total is among the 1,299 cancellations and 980 delays within the United States, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights globally.
The U.S. House is scheduled to vote Wednesday night to extend a funding bill that would bring an end to the 42-day government shutdown and start a path toward normalizing travel.
The House will act on a Senate bill that, if approved and signed by President Donald Trump, would clear the way for federal airport workers to be paid and for air traffic control towers to return to normal staffing.
But until then, 6 percent of U.S. airline flight schedules have been cut, potentially threatening some arrivals for next week’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and Thanksgiving holiday travel the week after that.
The reduction of flights is scheduled to advance to 8 percent on Thursday and 10 percent on Friday. It’s unclear how quickly the reduction policy would end if the House approves the funding bill, but it’s clear the strategy would continue if the vote fails.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which meets Wednesday afternoon, is expected to be briefed on a shortfall in hotel room tax collections resulting from this year’s decline in visitation.
Visitation has been down from 2024 every month in 2025, including by double-digit percentages in February, June and July.
That has resulted in declines in revenue supporting LVCVA operations in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year.
According to LVCVA documents, revenue is down 14.4 percent to $73.5 million for the quarter. Revenue includes room tax and gaming taxes, space rentals for Las Vegas Convention Center conventions and trade shows and farebox revenue from the Las Vegas Monorail, which the LVCVA owns.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
