Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that if Democrats keep the government shut down, there could be serious repercussions for air travel as air traffic controllers — those directing over 44,000 flights and more than 3 million airline passengers daily — are being spread thin and overworked without pay.
“You will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight delays,” said Duffy. “You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it.”
‘Asking them to go without a full month’s pay or more is simply not sustainable.’
Duffy’s warning evidently fell on deaf ears. Democrats have, after all, made explicit their intention to use Americans’ pain and inconvenience as political “leverage.” A senior Democrat aide even indicated last month that the party will not concede short of “planes falling out of the sky.”
Citing air traffic control personnel issues and the need to keep American skies safe, Duffy announced on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration will be reducing air traffic by 10% across 40 “high-volume” markets starting on Friday.
Despite his recent initiatives to recruit, train, and retain air traffic controllers, Duffy indicated that the fruits of such efforts take years to fully manifest and that at present, the FAA is still 2,000 controllers short. The government shutdown greatly compounds the impact of this underlying staffing problem as the existing workforce is spread thin, overworked, and paid nothing.
While air traffic controllers received a partial payment in early October, Duffy indicated that they haven’t been paid since, prompting some controllers to take second jobs.
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Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Our air traffic controllers, and a lot of those who work at DOT but throughout government, they haven’t received paychecks,” said Duffy. “Many of these employees, they’re the head of household. They have their spouse at home. They have a child or two or three, and when they lose income, they are confronted with real-world difficulties in how they pay their bills.”
Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a statement on Friday, “For this nation’s air traffic controllers, missing just one paycheck can be a significant hardship, as it is for all working Americans. Asking them to go without a full month’s pay or more is simply not sustainable.”
‘We are not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air transport in the United States.’
“During the shutdown, these professionals are required to oversee the movement of the nation’s passengers and cargo while many are working ten-hour days and six-day workweeks due to the ongoing staffing shortage, all without pay,” continued Daniels. “This situation creates substantial distractions for individuals who are already engaged in extremely stressful work. The financial and mental strain increases risks within the National Airspace System, making it less safe with each passing day of the shutdown.”
Bryan Bedford, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, noted that a recent deep dive into National Airspace System data revealed both “issues of fatigue” among controllers and pressures building in a way that if left unchecked could impact air safety.
“The data is telling us we need to do more, and we are going to do more,” said Bedford.
“We’re going to look for a ratable reduction across these 40 markets over the next 48 hours,” said the FAA administrator.
“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating.”
While the FAA has not released the final list of airports that will have their capacity cut, a source provided a proposed list to CBS News naming the following airports:
- Anchorage International (ANC)
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)
- Boston Logan International (BOS)
- Baltimore/Washington International (BWI)
- Charlotte Douglas International (CLT)
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG)
- Dallas Love (DAL)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA)
- Denver International (DEN)
- Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)
- Newark Liberty International (EWR)
- Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International (FLL)
- Honolulu International (HNL)
- Houston Hobby (HOU)
- Washington Dulles International (IAD)
- George Bush Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
- Indianapolis International (IND)
- New York John F. Kennedy International (JFK)
- Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS)
- Los Angeles International (LAX)
- New York LaGuardia (LGA)
- Orlando International (MCO)
- Chicago Midway (MDW)
- Memphis International (MEM)
- Miami International (MIA)
- Minneapolis/St. Paul International (MSP)
- Oakland International (OAK)
- Ontario International (ONT)
- Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
- Portland International (PDX)
- Philadelphia International (PHL)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)
- San Diego International (SAN)
- Louisville International (SDF)
- Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA)
- San Francisco International (SFO)
- Salt Lake City International (SLC)
- Teterboro (TEB)
- Tampa International (TPA)
“If the pressures continue to build even after we take these measures, we’ll come back and take additional measures,” continued the FAA administrator. “We’re trying to be prescriptive, surgical, put the relief where the relief will do the most good, but again, we are not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air transport in the United States.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, “We want to reopen the government so we can resume travel in the safest and most efficient way possible, especially as we head into the busiest travel season.”
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