Copyright The Boston Globe
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that it would reduce flight capacity by 10 percent at 40 unspecified airports nationwide in a bid to reduce stress on air traffic controllers. The federal workers manning the country’s air traffic control towers will soon go a month without pay because of the shutdown, transportation secretary Sean Duffy said during a press conference. The cumulated stress, he warned, could threaten the security of the nation’s air system, which has so far held firm as the shutdown drags on into a record-breaking 36th day. “We do not want to see disruptions,” Duffy said. “But our number one priority is to make sure when you travel, you travel safely.” How this service reduction will impact Logan Airport wasn’t immediately clear. Advertisement “We don’t have any additional information,” said Jennifer Mehigan, the director of media relations at the Massachusetts Port Authority. “Massport will provide the public with more information if we start to see staffing shortages or other issues causing impacts to flight operations at Logan, or our other two airports.” Duffy said the restrictions will begin Friday morning. Experts and union leaders have been warning for weeks that disruptions are a stark reminder that the aviation system is already stretched too thin by chronic understaffing and outdated technology. They have cautioned that cracks in the system could rapidly deepen the longer the shutdown drags on and critical aviation workers are without their regular paychecks. “It’s like having a drought the year after you had a drought,” Greg Raiff, CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, told The Associated Press. Advertisement Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report. Jaime Moore-Carrillo can be reached at jaime.moore-carrillo@globe.com.
