In a press conference, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the government will reduce flights by 10% at 40 of the country’s busiest airports, citing “a shortage of about 2,000 air traffic controllers, and we need to ease the pressure by reducing the number of flights overseen by air traffic controllers,” according to American media. This measure comes as the American enters its 36th day, which began on October 1st, following the failure of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over the new budget, leading to hundreds of thousands of federal employees being placed on technical unemployment, while hundreds of thousands of others continue working without pay.
The Transportation Secretary had previously warned of the potential for “chaos” at airports if the situation persisted, cautioning that parts of U.S. airspace might be closed due to the shortage of controllers, stating: “We may have to close parts of the airspace simply because we will not be able to manage it due to the lack of controllers.” Bedford confirmed that he had not witnessed such conditions in his 35-year career, noting that air traffic controllers who continue to work are doing so with extra hours and longer days.
Levitt stated in a press briefing: “America’s tourism economy has already lost $4 billion due to the Democrats’ shutdown.” Levitt added that “major American airlines, including United, Delta, American Airlines, and Southwest, supported the Republican bill to continue funding the government temporarily, with the aim of ending the shutdown.”
The U.S. government shutdown began last October due to Congress’s failure to pass the budget for the new fiscal year, which starts in October each year. The government shutdown means the stopping of major federal institutions that rely on direct funding, a crisis that has recurred several times in recent years, causing government paralysis except for essential services such as health and mail.
American President Donald Trump had previously indicated that he might use this situation to reduce the number of government employees, while the National Economic Council warned that the ongoing shutdown could cost the American economy about $15 billion weekly.
