Transportation Secretary Says Hegseth Offered Him Air Traffic Controllers To Help Delays, But There’s 1 Obvious Problem
At a time when the Federal Aviation Administration is facing staffing shortages due to the ongoing government shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered to provide him with air traffic controllers even though they were not certified.
“The secretary of war texted me yesterday and said, ‘I might have some air traffic controllers. If you can use them, I’ll offer them to you,'” Duffy told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “State of the Union.”
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Stating that he was not sure whether he could use them, Duffy said he could still use them “because they are not certified that we need them in the airspace.”
“But if I can, I will use them.”
“Everyone in this administration, at the direction of President Trump, has said, ‘Minimize the suffering of Americans.’ So this is not political, this is strictly security,” he continued.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
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Duffy then fired back at the left wing, telling Tapper that he was making the most of “the mess the Democrats put in my lap” and working to “keep the American people safe and keep the planes flying.”
Earlier this month, the FAA Flights were ordered to be reduced in size It’s in response to shortages of air traffic controllers who haven’t been paid for weeks as the government shutdown looms.
Transport Minister Sean Duffy said Defense Minister Pete Hegseth offered him air traffic controllers who could help amid shortages, but he rejected the offer because those controllers were not certified to direct air traffic “in the airspaces we need.” Getty Images
Elsewhere in the interview, Tapper asked Duffy if he had “a numerical idea of how many Americans won’t be able to be with their families” on Thanksgiving due to the growing shortage, and Duffy said he estimated that number would be “significant.”
“I’m trying to get more air traffic controllers in the towers and get certified, but I’m short about 1,000 to 2,000 controllers,” he continued.
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Duffy later explained that widespread airport shortages would continue even after the shutdown ended, as air traffic controllers were retiring faster than in the past.
“So I paid experienced controllers to keep their jobs and not retire. Before the shutdown, about 4 controllers a day would retire. Now I’m up to 15 to 20 controllers a day [that] “We are retiring,” he said. explained.
Duffy added: “So it’s going to be harder for me to come back after the shutdown and have more controllers controlling the airspace. So that’s going to continue with air travel well beyond the government reopening time frame.”
