“The Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday morning, just hours after it announced a 10-day closure that would have grounded all flights to and from the airport,” the AP reports.

“The Federal Aviation Administration is closing the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days, grounding all flights to and from the airport,” the AP reports.

Closing airspace over a major U.S. city for security reasons for an extended period hasn’t happened since the 9-11 attacks.

“The federal government will not have to restore funding to the $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel project between New York City and New Jersey before 5 p.m. on Thursday, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Monday,” the New York Times reports.

“U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas had ordered the funding restored at the end of last week, after the states of New York and New Jersey sued the federal Department of Transportation for suspending the project’s funding four months ago.”

“Workers were winding down their construction activity on the biggest transportation infrastructure project in the nation as the Trump administration’s prolonged suspension of its funding threatened to bring work to a halt on Friday,” the New York Times reports.

“The project, known as Gateway, centers on a new $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. Nearly 1,000 people have been working at sites on both sides of the Hudson and in the river, and more than $1 billion has already been spent, according to the project’s planners, the Gateway Development Commission.”

“Nearly all of that work was scheduled to stop on Friday unless federal officials agreed to restore Gateway’s funding or a court ordered them to.”

“Airlines canceled nearly 4,000 U.S. flights scheduled for the weekend as a massive winter storm sweeps across the country, with heavy snow and sleet in the forecast followed by bitter cold,” CNBC reports.

Axios: Massive winter storm could lay bare Trump’s FEMA cuts.

A daughter of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy denounced an “absurdly invasive pat-down” at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint on social media, suggesting that if her father were in charge of the agency, he would try to abolish it, the New York Times reports.

Said Evita Duffy-Alfonso: “I should not be treated like a terrorist for traveling within my own country by an agency that’s trash at its job anyway.”

A traveler who posted a photo of his first class boarding pass to brag that he could afford it “because of Trump” ended up finding out someone used this information to cancel his flight reservation.

“U.S. airlines are predicting another record Thanksgiving holiday travel period and are upbeat now that the travel-snarling government shutdown has ended,” CNBC reports.

“U.S. flight cancellations have fallen sharply over the last day as air traffic control absences shrank just hours before the House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill on Wednesday to end a record-setting government shutdown,” Reuters reports.

“President Trump threatened to dock the pay of air-traffic controllers who don’t return to work, as flight cancellations and delays spread across the country because of the government shutdown,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“He said he would recommend air-traffic controllers who didn’t take off time during the shutdown receive a $10,000 per person bonus.”

“Airlines braced for further chaos this week, despite a deal in the Senate to end the government shutdown,” the New York Times reports.

“About 5,000 flights were canceled from Friday through Sunday as federal restrictions on flying at the nation’s busiest airports kicked in… The disruption peaked at 10 percent of scheduled flights on Sunday, the fourth worst day for cancellations this year. By Monday morning, more than 1,400 flights had been canceled for the day, more than 5.5 percent of scheduled trips.”

“Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that air travel delays and cancelations will only spread as the country barrels into the third day of government-mandated flight cuts on Sunday, Nov. 9,” USA Today reports.

Said Duffy: “It’s only going to get worse. I look to the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.”

“The disruptions from federal restrictions on flying at the nation’s busiest airports were challenging, but relatively contained this weekend. But the cuts are expected to grow in the coming days, threatening to wreak havoc for airlines and travelers as Thanksgiving approaches,” the New York Times reports.

Politico: U.S. airlines cancel more than 1,000 flights for a second straight day largely due to shutdown.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that flight cancellations across the U.S. could rise to 15%—or even 20%—if the government shutdown continues, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Duffy: “If this shutdown doesn’t end relatively soon, the consequence is that more controllers don’t come to work. I don’t want to see that.”

“A wave of flight cancellations hit the United States on Friday morning, bringing home the effects of the government shutdown to many more Americans,” the New York Times reports.

Washington Post: Travelers brace for turmoil as flight cuts kick in at major U.S. airports.

“Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is set to headline a meet-and-greet event for his son-in-law, Michael Alfonso, who is running for Congress in Wisconsin, but the White House did not approve it,” NOTUS reports.

“Duffy, who previously held the same Wisconsin seat before retiring in 2018, is now backing his son-in-law to win the seat vacated by Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor.”

“Transportation officials’ plans to slash traffic by 10 percent at 40 major airports because of the government shutdown could affect hubs across the country, including New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle and many other cities,” the New York Times reports.