U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday warned that some airlines may be forced to stop flying if the federal government shutdown continues.
“If this doesn’t open, you might have airlines that say, ‘We’re going to ground our planes. We’re not going to fly anymore,’” Duffy said during a press conference in Chicago. “That’s how serious this is.”
“And I think you’re gonna have airlines that make serious calculations about whether they continue to fly,” Duffy continued, noting conversations he’s had with different carriers.
Duffy told reporters that disruptions could escalate over the weekend if Congress does not act, saying, “You’re going to see this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — big disruption thus far, massively more disruption as we come into the weekend if the government doesn’t open.”
The secretary said the FAA had already reduced flight operations by 6% nationwide on Tuesday due to staffing shortages and safety concerns. “This information … came from the safety office,” he said. “We’ve seen incursions on runways, we’ve seen loss of separation in the airspace, and we’ve seen heightened complaints by pilots of the communication they’re having with their air traffic controllers.”
10% cuts at 40 airports could be in place as early as Friday.
Weekend Staffing Woes
FAA Acting Air Traffic Organization head Frank McIntosh added that this past weekend saw “three of the highest staffing trigger numbers out of the four that we’ve had on record during the shutdown,” forcing the agency to “slow the entire country down” through nationwide airspace flow programs.
“This is not sustainable for our air traffic controllers, for our technicians, and for the American public,” he said.
Duffy echoed those concerns, calling the holiday season “the Super Bowl of air traffic controlling” and saying the FAA needs “controllers back in our facilities, controlling the airspace.”
He said flight reductions would remain until data show improvement: “When that data changes, we’re going to start taking down from six — go to four, two — and get back to normal air travel.”
Duffy also confirmed that air traffic controllers and technicians working without pay will receive 70% of back pay within 24 to 48 hours after the government reopens, with the rest to follow about a week later.
The Senate on Monday voted 60–40 to advance a bipartisan stopgap funding bill that would reopen the federal government, marking the first significant step toward ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
The House of Representatives is expected to take up the legislation later this week, after which it will go to President Trump for his signature to formally end the shutdown.
