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The FAA recently reported that half of the 30 busiest airports, including the six for travelers in New York and Washington, D.C., have been operating on short staff. It’s likely the majority will be impacted by the new restrictions. The decision to reduce flights aims to “alleviate the pressure” on air traffic controllers, says Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The essential workers haven’t been paid since mid-October, and they’re set to miss their second paycheck on Tuesday of next week. “I think we’re reaching a tipping point,” one controller told NPR. “This is kind of about the point in the last shutdown where people just started getting fed up with it.” Duffy has been warning of travel chaos since earlier days, blaming the Democrats for a “senseless shutdown.” He said November 4 that if the shutdown continues, by next week, “you will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays, you will see mass cancellations.” He and Bryan Bedford, the FAA administrator, said the recent decision is rooted in data and safety. “We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators tell us we can take action today,” Bedford said at a news conference yesterday.
