Critical House vote to dictate Southern Nevada’s tourism direction

As the 43-day government shutdown nears its end, flight cancellations and delays will continue at Harry Reid International Airport.

At Reid Airport at midafternoon Wednesday, 39 flights had been canceled and 54 delayed, including 28 cancellations and 27 delays for market leader Southwest Airlines. That total is among the 904 cancellations and 2,203 delays within the United States, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights globally.

The U.S. House voted Wednesday night to extend a funding bill that would bring an end to the government shutdown and start a path toward normalizing travel. When signed by President Donald Trump, the bill will clear the way for federal airport workers to be paid and for air traffic control towers to return to normal staffing.

Flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports will remain at 6 percent instead of rising to 10 percent by the end of the week because more air traffic controllers are coming to work, the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday.

It’s unclear how long the flight reductions will last. If extended they could potentially threaten some arrivals for next week’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and Thanksgiving holiday travel the week after that.

FlightAware is anticipating 954 cancellations within the United States on Thursday, 54 of those at Reid. On Friday, the company is projecting 348 cancellations with nine in Las Vegas.

Karen Burke, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at Reid, appeared before the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board Wednesday, thanking them for supporting Reid’s federal workers for the distribution of gasoline vouchers.

She said the absentee rate among federal employees at Reid has been less than at other airports because of the support the community has shown to the workers.

“I was just so excited when I found out there was an opportunity to be able to come and personally say thank you to the board, to everyone here that has made so many contributions for us to be successful, and all federal employees, actually,” Burke told the board.

“It’s been a very difficult time for our employees with the TSA,” she said. “We have a very diverse workforce, many of them young. They don’t have big savings accounts. So when you go without a paycheck for three pay periods in a row, you’re trying to figure out how to pay mortgage, babysitter, and you don’t even have gas money. It truly made the difference.

“And I would tell you our sick leave has been minimal compared to many other cities across the rest of the country,” she said. “I’ve had many airport directors and airlines call and say, ‘You have the right model.’ What you’re doing in Las Vegas works. Las Vegas always does things in the very best way. It’s people like the convention authority that gave us gas money.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.