Horizon Cutting-room Links: Wednesday, 12 February 2025

Federal government operating status in DC: Open - Suggesting 2 Hour Delayed Arrival - With Option for Unscheduled Leave or Unscheduled Telework. Given critical work being done across the federal government, please consult with your agency for final guidance.

"Trump Orders Plans for ‘Large Scale’ Work Force Cuts and Expands Musk’s Power," New York Times

"The order gives the so-called Department of Government Efficiency vast reach over the shape of the Civil Service as the Trump administration tries to sharply cut the number of employees working for the federal government. It states that, aside from agencies involved in functions like law enforcement and immigration enforcement, executive branch departments will need hiring approval from an official working with Mr. Musk’s team. Each federal agency, with some exceptions, will be allowed to 'hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart' after a hiring freeze is lifted, according to Mr. Trump’s order."

"Gridlock Heads Toward Washington’s National Airport," Cranky Flier

"DCA will have its arrival rate reduced from 28 to 26 flights per hour to create an extra safety buffer at the airport. This comes when traffic is at a relative low point, and it’s already going to snarl operations. But more flying is coming."

"You can see relative spikes when weather or, of course, the accident itself, caused brief delays and cancellations. But as you can see on the right side of the chart, cancellations have been up and on-time operations (arrivals within 14 minutes) down since the accident. Arrivals in particular are suffering more than departures at the airport, presumably because there’s enough buffer to turn some of the airplanes around even after a later arrival. But this is just the beginning. If we take a look at schedules, we are at something of a low point right now."

"GSA ‘losing too many people,’ as leaders pursue cuts to personnel, office space and contracts," FedNewsNetwork

"GSA employees tell Federal News Network they’re concerned losing a significant of SES personnel could impact the agency’s ability to keep offering its current programs and initiatives. Without replacements, they say GSA will have to close or consolidate several key services."

"A GSA employee told Federal News Network that employees with set start dates and promotions were recently told by HR that those were not 'official' offers, and have been put on hold."

"The Trump administration restores federal webpages after court order," the Verge

"Doctors for America (DFA), which represents physicians and medical students, filed suit last week against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) for taking health data off government websites. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order, setting a deadline for those agencies to make that information available again online."

"Inside the Award Seat Crisis: Air Canada On Dynamic Pricing Of Partner Awards As Too Many Miles Chase Too Few Seats," View from the Wing

"Frequent flyer programs are the most successful marketing innovation in history. The largest U.S. airline programs are worth tens of billions of dollars. During the pandemic, Delta, United and American each borrowed between $6.5 billion and $10 billion against the future income of their loyalty programs."

"Think of frequent flyer miles as a currency, with no central bank. Apply the basic monetarist formula, mv=pq. When you increase the supply of currency, holding the desire to spend that currency constant, you either get shortages (no seats available) or price increases."

"Airlines charge more points for seats likely to sell for some amount of money. ... That’s largely, so far, been a phenomenon for an airline’s own seats while partner awards have been priced in the old model. Airlines make only those saver awards (unsold seats) available to partners at a fixed price. But this is changing."