As the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began cutting flights by 10% on Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that flight reductions could reach 20% if the government shutdown isn’t resolved soon.
“If this continues, and I have more controllers who decide they can’t come to work, can’t control the airspace, but instead have to take a second job — with that, you might see 10% would have been a good number because we might go to 15% or 20%,” Duffy said at a Breitbart News event in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
He later clarified to The Hill that he was speaking about the situation hypothetically.
“Could it go there? That’s possible,” Duffy said.
“There’s no plan for that. I assess the data and how many controllers I have, and I’m just saying we’re gonna make decisions based on what we see in the airspace to make sure we keep it safe.”
“I hope it goes the other direction,” he added.
The FAA’s unprecedented order to reduce air traffic at 40 airports across the country took effect Friday, with airlines cutting more than 815 flights. The agency said that the reductions, which impact all commercial airlines, would start at 4% and increase incrementally to 10% by Nov. 14.
The cutbacks, which are in effect between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., are necessary, the FAA said, to reduce the strain on air traffic controllers who have been working without pay for more than a month since the government shut down. Many are working six-day workweeks with mandatory overtime, and an increasing number have begun to call out amid mounting exhaustion and financial pressures.
Duffy also responded to accusations that the flight reductions are a political move designed to force Senate Democrats to vote for the clean stopgap funding bill offered by Republicans.
Democrats in the upper chamber have rejected the GOP’s measure 14 times since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
“I’ve had some complaints from Democrats, ‘We want to see the data … This is political,'” Duffy said during the Breitbart event.
“This has not been political. We have worked overtime to make sure that we minimize the impact on the American people.”
Duffy called on the Senate to continue working to resolve the funding impasse, saying senators should not fly home while ordinary Americans cannot.
“There’s people going to funerals. There’s people who are trying to get home.”
“They can’t get home. Why are senators going home?” Duffy said.
“Keep them here … especially the senators who voted no to open the government up.”
Breitbart reporter Matt Boyle reportedly joked that Duffy could go one step further and put senators on the no-fly list to keep them in Washington, D.C., until the government reopens.
“That would be great,” Duffy responded. “Well played.”
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