US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that parts of the national airspace could soon be closed if the government shutdown continues, causing mass travel chaos.
The US transportation secretary has threatened to close sections of the country’s airspace if the government shutdown is prolonged, which could cause massive travel disruption.
Sean Duffy issued a clear statement during a press conference. He stated Tuesday: “You will see massive flight delays. You will see massive cancellations and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we simply cannot manage it because we do not have air traffic controllers.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, nearly half of major air traffic control facilities are dealing with staffing shortages due to the US government shutdown. Around 13,000 air traffic controllers currently work without pay, the agency revealed.
Duffy said numerous controllers have been forced to take on extra jobs to survive while enduring a second month without pay, he reports. the daily star. He added: “We and the FAA will close airspace, restrict it when we deem it unsafe.
“People always ask me if the system is safe, and I would tell them yes, the system is safe, and if it wasn’t, we would close it. But with this closure, it would be dishonest to say that it doesn’t inject more risk into the system.”
The US government shut down for the first time in seven years on October 1 after Republican and Democratic lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill. It paralyzed government services and forced hundreds of thousands of essential workers to go without pay.
Even before the lockdown, many controllers were working overtime due to staff shortages. Some controllers have also been forced to fill two positions. Duffy said the shutdown was exacerbating that workload.
He added: “They have to work those two positions because their colleagues have called in sick or are waiting tables or driving Uber.”
His comments come just days after the Federal Aviation Administration reported that nearly 80 percent of air traffic controllers assigned to facilities in the New York area were absent.
Duffy added: “We’ve tried to put every dollar we can into different programs that we can legally draw down and fund. But the truth is, the law doesn’t allow me to say, ‘Congress hasn’t funded the government, I can just find money and pay air traffic controllers.’ That’s not the way our Constitution and our government works.”
