Politics
FAA Set To Cut Thousands Of Flights Starting Friday Due To Democrat-Led Shutdown
The Federal aviation Administration (FAA) will reduce flight capacity by 10 percent at 40 major airports across the country starting Friday due to critical shortages among air traffic controllers and other flight support staff, thousands of whom have been forced to work without pay for a month due to the Democrat-led government shutdown.
The restrictions will go into effect Friday morning, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced during a press conference on Wednesday. The airports affected will be announced Thursday, officials said.
According to a report from ABC News citing sources familiar with the matter, reductions will start at four percent as early as Friday and work up to 10 percent over the course of the weekend. The flights impacted by these reductions are scheduled during the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
International flights are set to be exempt from the cuts, the source said, adding that a final list of airports and the FAA order with details is still in development and should be released in its final form on Thursday.
“Our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible. Reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations. This is not based on light airline travel locations. This is about where the pressure is and how to really deviate the pressure,” Bedford said during Wednesday’s press conference.
The announcement comes just days after Secretary Duffy warned that the ongoing shutdown would lead to a reduction in flight capacity due to the ongoing shutdown. Both Bedford and Duffy emphasized that the decision to cut down on flights is a proactive measure based on data the department has reviewed, and the staffing pressures that are anticipated to grow during the shutdown.
“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent, you know, things from deteriorating. So the system is extremely safe today will be extremely safe tomorrow,” Bedford added.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing over 10,800 certified air traffic controllers, has repeatedly demanded that Congress immediately pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) to end the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which is now set to become the longest in U.S. history. The House passed a clean CR a month ago, though Democrats have voted against it more than a dozen times in hopes of gaining legislative wishlist items.
NATCA President Nick Daniels has stressed that controllers are unfairly bearing the burden of the shutdown, as thousands of employees are currently working grueling six-day, 10-hour schedules all amid a preexisting 3,800-person staffing shortfall.
Air traffic controllers, classified as essential workers, are required to report for duty but have faced severe financial hardship. They received partial paychecks for pre-shutdown work on October 14, followed by $0 paychecks on October 28 and again in subsequent cycles, marking over 120 unpaid hours for many.
The shutdown has also furloughed 2,350 support staff (engineers and technicians), halted new controller hiring and training, and suspended equipment maintenance and modernization projects, leaving the system more fragile.
While speaking with Fox News, Daniels stated that hundreds of controllers have been forced to take second jobs in order to deal with the shutdown effects. “These American patriots, they are the unsung heroes that Secretary Duffy speaks about so often. They are the ones that have been thrust into the spotlight, into center focus of a shutdown. And air traffic controllers, we don’t start shutdowns, we’re not responsible for ending shutdowns. Who does? Congress,” he said.
Air traffic controllers have become a central focus of the ongoing shutdown dispute, which has led to delays and cancellations across more than 20 U.S. airports.
Over the October 31 through November 2 weekend — the worst since the shutdown began — the FAA recorded 98 “staffing triggers,” forcing ground stops, reduced arrival rates, and rerouting. Half of the 30 busiest U.S. facilities reported shortages, with New York-area absences reaching 80 percent.
NATCA and aviation experts have also issued stark safety warnings, stating the shutdown “erodes essential layers of safety” and makes the National Airspace System “less safe with each passing day.”
