Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Sunday that flights across the country could be delayed or even canceled due to the ongoing government shutdown as staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities spread nationwide.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, nearly 50% of all major air traffic control facilities face staffing shortages.
Air traffic controllers are required to work without pay for the duration of the shutdown.
“Should President Trump — given what he said [in 2011] — should President Trump be meeting, would you like to see him hold another meeting?”
Democrats are trying to use this as leverage and again, trying to change legislation that they don’t like,” Duffy said.
Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, issued a warning on Sunday that the government shutdown could cause flights nationwide to be delayed or possibly canceled as staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities spread across the nation.
Amidst the shortages, Duffy told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, “We will delay, we will cancel, any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe,” during a ground stop at Newark Liberty International Airport.
“When we have a controller doing two jobs instead of one, there is a level of risk that gets injected into the system,” he continued.
The Federal Aviation Administration reports that there is a staffing shortage in almost half of all major air traffic control facilities. During the shutdown, air traffic controllers are expected to work unpaid.
“We’ll look back as these were the good days, not the bad days,” Duffy cautioned, if the government doesn’t open within the next week or two.
When Raddatz asked if the Trump administration would think about using other funding sources to maintain air traffic controllers’ salaries, Duffy said that the administration was “pulling in whatever dollars we can.”. “,”.
But there are actual limitations. “It becomes very difficult to find dollars to pay the various components of really critical workforces that keep our country moving forward whenever you say there are no dollars available,” Duffy said. “.”.
Although Duffy told NBC in a 2011 interview that it is the president’s responsibility to bring parties together and negotiate a settlement during a shutdown, he also defended President Donald Trump’s tough stance in spending talks with Democrats.
“Considering what he stated [in 2011], would you prefer that President Trump hold another meeting?” Raddatz posed the question.
This is the issue. There is nothing for Donald Trump to compromise on. A clean funding bill was approved by us. Okay, so what do you bargain for when you want to pay again in September or October? According to Duffy, Democrats are attempting to use this as leverage and once more try to change legislation that they disagree with.
