YVR reports no flight disruptions as U.S. government shutdown grounds hundreds of flights

Even though most flights at YVR are on time, a growing air traffic crunch in the U.S. is starting to have a ripple effect for Canadians.

While hundreds of flights have been cancelled across the United States, operations at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) remain unaffected.

“We have 164 flights today between Canada and the United States,” said Stephen Smart, head of communications with YVR.

“There are no flight impacts to those YVR-U.S. flights.”

The comments come as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) begins limiting air traffic at 40 major airports due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, now the longest in history. More than 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security agents have been working without pay for more than five weeks.

Connecting passengers could feel effects

Smart says the situation could change for travellers making connections through American hubs.

“Where you could potentially have passengers feel some impact is if they’re flying from YVR to the U.S. and then connecting at that American airport to another U.S. destination,” he said.

He added that the airport is in contact with both Canadian and U.S. carriers as the situation evolves.

“What we’ve been told is that they are not anticipating any direct impacts to what they would consider international routes,” Smart said.

“Where there is the potential is knock-on effects.”

Advice for travellers

For now, YVR says flights in and out of Vancouver remain on schedule, but passengers are still encouraged to double-check before leaving home.

“Even though we’re not seeing any disruptions here at YVR, do check in — check with your flight information either with your airline directly or on yvr.ca before you come to the airport,” Smart said.

The FAA’s flight reductions are expected to continue as long as the U.S. government shutdown remains unresolved.