US govt shutdown: No flights from India to America cancelled, say sources

Despite the ripple effect of the United States shutdown across the world, no flights from India to America had been cancelled, according to sources.

Though travellers were not impacted immediately, industry players said that if the government shutdown was prolonged, it would have an effect in the near future.

"The US government shutdown will have no impact on those travelling from India. Airlines are functioning as per their schedules, the air traffic control, immigration and customs services which are deemed as essential services are not covered by the shutdown," said Karan Anand, Head of Relationships at Cox & Kings.

"The government shutdown could impact travellers planning a trip to the US in the foreseeable future," said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C) at Yatra.com, adding that "while there will be a minuscule impact on air traffic controllers, visa processing will certainly face some delay. Also, passport processing for the US citizens visiting India or other foreign nations might also get delayed."

The US government began shutting down on Saturday, putting thousands of workers on unpaid leave after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap budget.

Air India has not cancelled or postponed any flights to the US, a source familiar with the matter said. Air India flies to four US cities daily -- San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and New York, In New York, it flies to two airports Newark and John F. Kennedy.

The shutdown marked the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration.

It is the first shutdown in US history to happen while the same ruling party controlled both House of Congress and the Senate.

Despite last-minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16, did not receive the required number of 60 votes in the Senate.

The budget proposal presented by the Republicans on Friday night got more votes in favour (50) than against (48), but they were insufficient to approve funds. Four Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke rank to support it.