This Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated in an interview with FOX that, due to the extensive government shutdown, US airlines are expected to lose millions of dollars.
While Republicans and Democrats debate the federal budget in Congress, many entities have made drastic decisions, including reducing salaries for federal workers, this has generated discontent in several sectors, including aviation.
“The airlines have been good partners. They don’t like this. They’re going to lose millions of dollars over this. It’s hard for them to cancel flights,” Duffy added. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dramatically reduced flights at airports across the country due to the government shutdown.
The plan is that if the government closure is extended further, flights will initially be reduced to 4%, with the aim of reaching up to 10% suspension of these in at least 40 airports.
As stated by FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford in a press release “We are seeing signs of strain on the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to ensure Americans continue to fly safely,” said.
According to Bedford, “the FAA will continue to closely monitor operations and we will not hesitate to take additional measures to ensure the safety of air travel,” he said.
For his part, Duffy commented that the best thing is to open the government, pay flight controllers to reduce pressure.
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