US to cut airline traffic by 10% due to shutdown, Trump transport chief says | Trump administration
Transportation secretary Sean Duffy and FAA administrator Bryan Bedford The federal government will cut airline traffic by 10% at 40 destinations starting Friday if the government shutdown doesn’t end by then, the federal government said Wednesday.
Duffy’s announcement did not specify which 40 airports would see a decrease in airport traffic.
The comments follow Duffy’s warning earlier this week that the US could close part of its airspace if the shutdown, which is in its record-breaking 36th day, does not end.
Bedford said air traffic is currently operating safely, but the FAA is concerned about reports of widespread fatigue from flight controllers.
“As we slice the data further, we see that there is pressure building that we don’t feel will allow us to continue to tell the public that we operate the safest airline system in the world if we allow it to go unchecked,” Bedford said.
“A lot of these employees are heads of the household,” Duffy said. “When they lose their income, they face real-life challenges of how they can pay their bills.”
The 10 percent cuts are aimed at reducing stress on air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay throughout the closure.
Duffy said the FAA is offering cash bonuses to retired air traffic controllers to stay on staff, and the FAA academy is increasing hiring to fill the gap.
Bedford said the FAA will meet with airline representatives to discuss how traffic reductions will be implemented. He didn’t elaborate when asked how to ensure routes or airlines aren’t disproportionately affected or how smoothly the FAA expects the reduction to happen, given that it anticipates it is considering more. 44,000 flights and 3 million passengers per day.
“I am not aware of a situation in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we have encountered such measures,” Bedford said. “We are in new territory in terms of a government shutdown.”
The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, has since led to a shortage of as many as 3,000 air traffic controllers, according to management; Additionally, at least 11,000 more people have been receiving zero wages despite working as essential workers in the past two weeks. Duffy said controllers received a partial payment at the beginning of the shutdown and a “big zero” on their checks two weeks ago and can expect the same tomorrow.
On Wednesday morning, the shutdown entered its 36th day, making it the longest shutdown in United States history. Duffy’s tweets announcing a 10% reduction in staffing came on the heels of a post with AI-generated artwork blaming Congressional Democrats for the shutdown.
