Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Thursday of possible flight delays and cancellations during the government shutdown, saying the federal safety system depends on air traffic controllers working without pay.
“I can’t guarantee you that your flight’s going to be on time. I can’t guarantee that your flight’s not going to be canceled. It’s going to depend on our air traffic controllers coming in to work every single day,” Duffy said in a press conference alongside House Republican leadership in the Capitol on Thursday.
Duffy thanked the air traffic controllers for working without pay.
“We need you to come to work. But if they do not, we’ll know whose fault it is,” Duffy said, putting the blame on Democrats.
Duffy said he has visited a number of different air traffic towers over the two weeks, and that air traffic controllers — some of whom work six days a week — are “angry” and “frustrated.” He warned that some of them may consider taking a second job to pay the bills.
Air travel is one of the most closely watched issues in the shutdown and one felt by large numbers of Americans. In 2019, the impact on flights caused by air travel controllers calling out of work was key to resolving the longest-ever shutdown.
Duffy said Thursday that staffing shortages at towers will lead to flight delays and cancellations.
“Safety is paramount,” Duffy said. “If we don’t have the staffing levels … you will see us delay traffic. You will see us cancel flights.”
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is “weaponizing the air traffic controllers, and he’s weaponizing families as we go into the holiday season,” saying cancellations and delays “will ultimately, probably happen.”
Air traffic controllers and other federal workers got a partial paycheck Oct. 10, since that pay period included the end of September, before the funding lapse began. Federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are set to miss their first full paychecks Friday.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that while the Trump administration was able to “bootstrap a 1930s-era statute” to fund the Women, Infants, and Children food aid program and found unobligated funds to pay military service members earlier this month, they are “running out of creative ideas” to pay critical federal employees during the shutdown.
“There is not an existing pot of money that could cover the air traffic controllers salaries right now,” Johnson said.
The Senate is set to vote Thursday on a bill to pay essential government workers during the shutdown. Johnson said he expects that bill to fail due to opposition from Democrats.
The Transportation secretary also said he is worried about the impact the shutdown is having on air traffic controller recruits currently studying at the academy in Oklahoma City, as the department has a shortage of around 3,800 of its air traffic controller staffing goal.
“I’m getting word out from Oklahoma City, where I have young air traffic controller students who are now telling me, ‘What the hell am I doing? Why am I going to take this job?’ They’re thinking about leaving the academy, smart young men and women, because they don’t want to work for a system that won’t pay them,” Duffy said.
