The US will begin to cut airline traffic by 10pc at high volume airports starting this Friday if no deal is reached to reopen the federal government, US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said today as the shutdown hit its 36th day.
During a press conference Duffy said that the 10pc cut in airline traffic will be applied to 40 different airports, which will be named tomorrow. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will hold meetings with airlines and airports tonight to collaborate on the schedule reductions.
Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have been working without pay since the partial US government shutdown started on 1 October. Staffing shortages prompted the FAA to periodically issue temporary ground stops at some airports because of a lack of air traffic controllers, while TSA staff shortages led to hours-long security check-ins.
Even before the shutdown the FAA has been far short of its targeted number of air traffic control employees. Controllers have seen a 3,800 worker shortage during the shutdown, National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Nick Daniels said late last month.
Earlier this week Duffy blamed the shutdown on Democrats, warning if they did not vote to reopen the government within a week, the country would see "massive cancellations."
Since 1 November, total flight cancellations within, to and out of US airports totaled more than 795 flights as of 4pm ET today, while more than 21,600 flights have been delayed, according to flight-tracking company FlightAware. The count includes mechanical, weather, and other incidents.
"We are going to proactively make decisions to keep the airspace safe," Duffy said.
If the pressures continue to build through the shutdown, additional measures will be necessary, FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said.
