US transport secretary warns of ‘mass chaos’ if gov’t shutdown prolongs

If the government shutdown drags on and air traffic controllers are unable to make a second paycheck, Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation for the United States, has warned that the skies could become chaotic the following week.

Duffy made his remarks on Tuesday as the US government shutdown dragged into its 35th day, matching the longest shutdown ever in US President Donald Trump’s first term.

Because of the Federal Aviation Administration’s temporary slowdown or stoppage of traffic when it is short on controllers, there have already been numerous delays at airports across the nation, some of which have been hours long. Some of the worst staff shortages occurred over the weekend, and on Sunday, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey flights were delayed by several hours.

Both Duffy and the union’s head air traffic controller warned that the situation would only get worse as the government shutdown drags on and the financial strain on those who are forced to perform unpaid work will only get worse. On October 28, FAA employees already missed one paycheck. Next Tuesday is the day they will have their next paycheck.

Many controllers responded, “Many of us can navigate missing one paycheck.” Many of us can, but not everyone. Nobody of us can handle missing two paychecks, Duffy claimed. Democrats, you will witness widespread chaos if you bring us to a week from today. There will be numerous flight delays. Because we don’t have air traffic controllers, you’ll see mass cancellations and possible closures of some areas of the airspace.

The shutdown has caused the majority of the flight disruptions to be temporary and isolated. However, the pressure will grow on US Congress to reach an agreement to end the shutdown if delays start to spread and start to affect the entire system.

Airlines typically make an effort to have at least 80% of their flights depart and arrive on time within 15 minutes. Since the shutdown started on October 1st, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, the overall total number of delays have not fallen significantly below that goal because the majority of the disruptions have been no worse than what occurs when a significant thunderstorm moves across an airport.

However, Cirium reported that only about 70% of Newark’s departures were on time on Sunday, and only about 56% of its departures were on time.