Less than three months since the last shutdown ended, the air travel sector faces yet another funding lapse and the strong potential for flight disruptions.

What travelers should know about flight cancelations as American Airlines works to resume operations slowed by difficult winter storm conditions.

WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Major U.S. airlines on Thursday urged Congress to pay air traffic controllers in the event of a partial government shutdown after the industry suffered a major disruption during a 43-day standoff last fall.

American Airlines, which trails competitors in profits, had 10,000 cancellations due to Winter Storm Fern. Now some unions want CEO Robert Isom to step down

American Airlines said Winter Storm Fern resulted in over 9,000 flight cancellations, the "largest weather-related" disruption in its history.

Joining Alaska Airlines (which ranked 15 th) in the top 25 ranking of the safest full-service airlines are Delta Air Lines (23 rd) and American Airlines (24 th ), which formed the three U.S. carriers in the listing. Among the low-cost airlines, the top five safest were found to be HK Express, Jetstar Airways, Scoot, flydubai, and easyJet.

United Airlines announced a record 750 daily flights at Chicago's O'Hare airport this summer, outpacing American Airlines in a heated competition for airport dominance.

American Airlines was recovering slowly from winter storm Fern on Tuesday, as crews could not reach airplanes and Dallas remained "a skating rink."