Copyright The Boston Herald
Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is arguing that the “GOP shutdown” is taking a toll on operations at Logan Airport, but Massport says business remains normal at the Boston travel hub amid the government closure. Pressley, a Boston Democrat, is demanding an end to the month-long federal shutdown, blaming Republicans for causing what she describes as disruptions at airports across the country. Republicans are still in need of five votes to clear the 60-vote threshold to ensure passage of the GOP’s government funding legislation to reopen the government, after a single senator failed to switch their vote for the 13th time on Tuesday. “Delays, cancellations, & long lines,” Pressley stated in an X post on Wednesday. “The GOP shutdown is impacting our airports and leaving air traffic controllers & TSA agents without pay, including at Boston Logan. Republicans need to reopen the government, pay federal workers, keep our airports running & skies safe.” Airport traffic controllers at Logan did not receive a paycheck on Tuesday, marking the first time amid the shutdown that they’ve worked for no money. They were partially paid on Oct. 14. Despite the financial pressures being felt by employees, Massport is refuting Pressley’s claim of disruptions at Boston Logan International Airport. “We haven’t seen any impacts at Logan,” Massport spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan told the Herald Wednesday afternoon. “We will put out messaging on our social accounts notifying the public if we see any changes.” According to the Federal Aviation Administration, departure traffic destined for Logan on Wednesday experienced average delays of up to 55 minutes due to runway construction. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has voiced concerns that flight delays across the country could multiply as increasingly stressed-out air traffic controllers call out sick. Most of the delays have been isolated and temporary. Aviation analytics firm Cirium has found that 20% of all flights are delayed more than 15 minutes at any given time due to various factors. Data shows there has not been a dramatic increase in the total number of delays overall since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. Nearly 80% of flights at a sample of 14 major airports nationwide have still been on time this month. Earlier in the shutdown, Massport stated that it wouldn’t be playing a video at its airports of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the federal government shutdown. The quasi-state agency based its decision on never receiving a request to display the video, and there are “no video screens at our TSA checkpoints,” Mehigan said earlier this month. At other airports nationwide, the video is not being displayed because it violates their policies or regulations that prohibit political messaging at their facilities. That list includes Las Vegas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle, among others. In the video, Noem says that TSA’s “top priority” is to help make travel pleasant and efficient while keeping passengers safe. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government,” the DHS secretary says, “and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.” A Massachusetts agency has received similar blowback after it posted a message on its website blaming President Trump and Congressional Republicans for not issuing November SNAP benefits. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
