The Trump administration is throttling flights as the government shutdown continues to stretch air traffic controllers thin.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that it would reduce air traffic by 10 percent across 40 “high traffic” markets starting Friday morning to ensure the safety of air travelers amid the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
The restrictions will stay in place until the data shows that things are moving “in the right direction,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press conference.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the list of affected airports will be released on Thursday after officials meet with airlines to discuss implementation.
Bedford explained that the move was aimed at taking “the pressure off of our controllers.”
Air traffic controllers have been working without pay, forcing many of them to call out sick as Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over healthcare subsidies expiring at the end of the year.
“We do recognize that the controllers have been working fastidiously for the last five weeks with this huge burden over their head of lack of compensation, and we are starting to see some evidence that that fatigue is building,” Bedford said.
“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating,” he added.
Bedford said additional measures will include restrictions on space launches, which often demand a lot more attention from controllers.
Last week, Duffy warned that he was prepared to “slow” or “stop” air traffic if the government shutdown continued to worsen the staffing shortage of 2,000 controllers.
Halloween became the worst weekend for air traffic control staffing since the government screeched to a halt on Oct. 1.
A CNN analysis of FAA data from Halloween weekend found 98 “staffing trigger” reports, or instances when operations had to be amended to maintain air safety with reduced staff.
The air travel crisis has triggered finger-pointing between liberals and conservatives.
“Democrats are flirting with disaster,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on X. “Millions of Americans are already dealing with flight delays and cancellations because of the Schumer Shutdown.”
Across the aisle, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly blasted Republicans and the Trump administration over air travel woes.
“Trump’s shutdown is endangering American lives,” his press office said last week after a staffing shortage in California triggered a temporary ground stop.
