The Secretary of Transportation of the United States, Sean Duffy, announced this Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will reduce air traffic by 10% in 40 airports in the country starting this Friday, before the prolonged one that has already become the longest in American history. “This decision is not based on which airline has the most flights from which base. It is about identifying where the pressure is concentrated and how we can alleviate it,” Duffy explained in a press conference in which he acknowledged that there will be “more disruption and frustration” in the coming days.
The Government shutdown, which began on October 1 due to the lack of a budget agreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, has paralyzed the activity of part of the federal Administration, in a country where they depend on the Trump Administration. The FAA has been especially hard hit, with some 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 airport security agents forced to work without pay for more than a month.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford already warned this week that between 20% and 40% of drivers assigned to the 30 largest airports in the country have not gone to their jobs. This lack of personnel at airfields has begun to cause widespread delays, long waits at security checkpoints at almost all airports and chain cancellations, especially at the terminals in Phoenix (Arizona) or Newark (New Jersey), one of the main access points to New York.
“Ultimately, our only function is to guarantee the maximum possible security in this airspace,” stressed Sean Duffy, who has avoided specifying which specific airports will be affected by the reduction in operations. According to estimates from the Department of Transportation itself, between 4,000 and 4,500 flights, both commercial and non-commercial, could be altered every day.
Airlines under pressure
Airlines have repeatedly called for an end to the closure, warning of the risks to the security and stability of the system. The Association of American Airlines estimates that more than 3.2 million passengers have been affected by delays or cancellations since October 1, while the main groups in the sector – including United Airlines and American Airlines – recorded a drop of close to 1% in the stock market this Wednesday.
Duffy has announced that in the next 48 hours he will call on the airlines to coordinate schedule adjustments “proportionately” and minimize the impact on travelers. “I don’t want our controllers to look for other jobs; I want them to come to work, but I understand their difficulties,” the secretary acknowledged.
The government shutdown, which now exceeds 36 days, responds to the blockade on the federal financing law between Democrats and Republicans. The former refuse to approve a budget that does not expand health subsidies, while the latter reject any extension of that spending. The situation refers to the 2018-2019 closure, during Donald Trump’s mandate, which lasted 35 days and ended precisely after the collapse of air traffic. Today, history seems to repeat itself, but with a greater magnitude: the political crisis threatens to take the country to a logistical and economic turning point.
