More than 1,000 flights were canceled and thousands more delayed Friday as part of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reduction of air travel capacity brought on by the ongoing government shutdown.
Earlier this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford initiated the reduction to deal with staff shortages and overworked flight controllers brought on by a month of unpaid workdays, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the air travel system will degenerate into “mass chaos” if the shutdown doesn’t end by November 11.
As a result, Bedford announced the agency would reduce flights by 10 percent at 40 “high-volume markets” throughout the country to ensure safety.
According to the Associated Press:
The 40 airports selected by the FAA span more than two dozen states and include hubs such as Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the agency’s order, which was published Thursday evening. In some metropolitan areas, including New York, Houston, Chicago and Washington, multiple airports will be impacted.
The FAA said in the order that the reductions will start Friday at 4% and ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14. They are to be in effect between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time and impact all commercial airlines.
“With continued delays and unpredictable staffing shortages, which are driving fatigue, risk is further increasing, and the FAA is concerned with the system’s ability to maintain the current volume of operations,” the order reads.
Duffy told Breitbart News’s Matt Boyle at an event Friday, “We have worked overtime to make sure that we minimize the impact on the American people. We’re trying to help the American people,” adding that it is frustrating when he is attacked by Democrats, as there is an easy solution to all of these problems: “Open the damn government.”
As of noon Eastern time on Friday, there had been roughly 1200 flights canceled and nearly 16,000 delays, according to FlightAware.
On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was featured in an X post by Senate Commerce Republicans quoting a “senior Democratic aide” saying that Democrats wouldn’t reopen the government “short of planes falling out of the sky.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
