US airspace faces restrictions as government shutdown enters its 36th day

WASHINGTON,DC: Days after warning of possible US airspace closures, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday announced new flight restrictions as the government shutdown reached a record 36 days, amid mounting safety concerns and severe staffing shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Fox Business reported.

Duffy said new airspace restrictions will take effect on Friday, including a 10 per cent reduction in flight capacity across 40 locations, which will impact approximately 4,000 flights nationwide.

“One of them, though, is going to be that there is going to be a 10 per cent reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations,” Duffy said, as quoted by Fox Business. The full list of affected airports will be released on Thursday.

The shutdown, which began on October 1, entered its 36th day on Wednesday (local time), making it the longest in US history. It has partially shut down several federal agencies, leaving around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers working without pay for over a month, Fox Business reported, citing Reuters.

Earlier on Tuesday, Duffy had warned that if the crisis persists, the Department of Transportation (DOT) could close sections of the airspace entirely to ensure safety, as per CBS news.

“We will restrict the airspace when we feel it’s not safe,” he said, adding that the aviation system was already “stretched to its limits.”

He also cautioned that the continued shortage of staff could lead to “mass flight delays, mass cancellations, and possibly the closure of certain airspace because we simply don’t have the controllers to manage it safely.”

Despite the operational slowdown, Duffy insisted that safety remains the department’s top priority. “We have seen staffing pressures throughout our airspace, but we are slowing flight operations to ensure safety. It’s not ideal, but it’s necessary to prevent accidents,” he said.

He also expressed concern for workers who continue to work unpaid. “They’re the head of household, they have a spouse at home, they have children. When they lose income, they face real problems paying their bills,” he said. “We’ve asked them to show up for work, but I know the hardship they’re under.”

Duffy urged them not to take side jobs, saying, “I do not want them to take side jobs. I want them to show up for work. We have asked them to show up for work. But I’m not naive to understand that they’re trying that. We have seen staffing pressures throughout our airspace.”

The impact on travel has been widespread. According to Flight Aware, more than 10,000 flights within, into, or out of the US were delayed last weekend, and another 4,700 were delayed on Monday. Duffy said that 46 per cent of all flight delays were now linked to staffing shortages, compared to the usual 5 per cent, Fox Business reported.

The FAA reported that nearly half of the nation’s 30 busiest airports are now short-staffed. Since the shutdown began, over 6,200 flights have been delayed and around 500 cancelled due to the ongoing crisis. (ANI)