"On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced plans to slash airline traffic by ten percent at 40 of the nation's busiest airports starting on Friday, a move that will cause immense disruption ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, the busiest travel season of the year. It will also pile pressure on Congress to end the ongoing government shutdown, which is the longest in history."
"Transportation secretary Sean Duffy explained that the reduction in flights will "alleviate the pressure" on the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic controllers, who've been working without pay since the shutdown began on October 1. "I think it's going to lead to more cancellations," Duffy said at a news conference, per Politico."
""If we thought that it was unsafe, we'll shut the whole airspace down," Duffy said in a CNBC interview Monday, conceding that the measure includes "an element of risk." "We won't let people travel," he cautioned at the time, adding that "we're not there at this point" - though it seems to have actually arrived just days later."
The administration will reduce airline traffic by ten percent at 40 of the nation's busiest airports beginning Friday, targeting the Thanksgiving travel period. The action aims to alleviate pressure on Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers who have been working without pay since October 1. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the cuts will likely lead to more cancellations and earlier threatened to shut airspace if conditions were unsafe. The administration has not named specific affected airports, though a designated contingent of core facilities includes major hubs such as New York City, Atlanta, Boston, and Washington, D.C. The FAA has faced long-standing staffing shortfalls.
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