As of Thursday, the federal government is finally reopening, following a record 43-day shutdown. From furloughs to flight delays and lapsed benefits, millions of people felt an impact.
In Oregon, federal agencies began the slow process of reopening, although it’s unclear how quickly things will return to normal.
Some flights are still canceled
The Portland International Airport continued to feel the effects of the shutdown Thursday, with passengers still feeling the pinch.
The Federal Aviation Administration previously said about 6% of flights would remain canceled at the nation’s 40 busiest airports.
In Portland, 27 flights were canceled Thursday morning, according to the port officials. That’s the largest single-day total at PDX since Nov. 7, when the FAA began reducing the number of flights due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
As of Thursday afternoon, 18 flights were canceled for Friday, airport officials said. It was unclear if all cancellations stemmed from the government shutdown.
“Air traffic reductions continue to impact airports nationwide, including arrivals and departures at PDX,” Port of Portland spokesperson Molly Prescott wrote in a Thursday statement. “The Port is monitoring the situation closely and remains focused on keeping daily operations at PDX running smoothly as our airline partners make changes to their flight schedules.”
Alaska Airlines and its regional brand Horizon accounted for nearly half of all canceled flights in Portland on Thursday. The largest impact has been on smaller, regional flights with multiple flights across the region, including Medford and Seattle.
“We are in close contact with the Federal Aviation Administration and are prepared to resume our full schedule as soon as the FAA lifts the order and it is safe to do so,” Alaska Airlines officials said in a Thursday statement. “Our teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure we can ramp up operations quickly and efficiently.”
Federal offices start slow process of reopening
Some federal offices in Portland have also begun the process of reopening, albeit slowly.
Napoleon Hoders is the executive director for the National Association of Black Veterans in Portland, which has offices at the federal Veterans Administration building in downtown Portland.
Hodgers said his staff of four had not been able to access their office since the shutdown began. His organization is not federally funded, but it was still unable to perform its functions without access to its offices. That includes helping Black veterans file disability claims and access health care.
On Thursday, VA officials informed him the office had reopened and his staff could return Friday.
“Personally, I am happy that it’s open,” Hodgers said. “We have a lot of people that are depending on us. It’s good that we finally have access.”
His office already has more than 100 voicemails over the past month, still awaiting responses.
OPB attempted to reach Crater Lake National Park and other sites belonging to the National Park Service in Oregon. An NPS spokesperson said in a statment that visitors would be “welcomed back in full.”
“NPS employees and partners are working quickly to restore normal services and ensure visitors can continue to enjoy these treasured places,” the statement read.
SNAP recipients still hesitant about future
There has been some welcome news for Oregonians who receive SNAP food assistance in recent days; benefits were recently loaded into food assistance accounts and the government ended its 43-day closure.
But uncertainty remains.
Jon Makler, the program manager with the Northeast Emergency Food program, said the number of people his pantry helped increased in the past couple of months. It has taken a slight dip since Friday, he said, when benefits were sent out, but he’s not confident that will hold.
“Does someone believe this is going to stick … I don’t think anyone is feeling safe right now,” Makler said.
The latest bill funds the federal government through the end of January, so there is always the possibility of another shutdown.
Suleiman Amanzad, with the Oregon Food Bank, echoed those concerns.
“While SNAP benefits in Oregon are restored for the month of November, we can not look away,” Amanzad said in a statement.
He noted that this summer, the “Big Beautiful Bill” slashed funding for SNAP, and it’s expected to dramatically decrease who is eligible for benefits.
“This is a larger and troubling trend impacting SNAP recipients ... While the restoration of November benefits brings short-term relief, it also reminds us how easily policy decisions can disrupt food access to food and why we must stay engaged.”
This story may be updated.
