Air travel to ‘slow to a trickle’ as Thanksgiving approaches amid shutdown, transport secretary says

Delays and cancellations are expected to cause a massive disruption as Thanksgiving air progress approaches and the governing body shutdown prevents air traffic controllers from getting paid warned Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday As we get closer to Thanksgiving excursion listen I think what s going to happen is you re going to have air tour slow to a trickle as everyone wants to trip to see their families explained Duffy on Fox News Sunday I think we re going to see air traffic controllers very insufficient of them coming to work Which means yes you ll have a sparse flights taking off and landing at our different airports across the country but the thousands of flights that happen every day to move people around the country for this great American holiday it s not going to happen The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight cuts at the U S s busiest airports last week as the longest-ever regime shutdown continues to keep air traffic controllers from getting paid and more stop coming into work The secretary s comments come as delays and cancellations skyrocketed to their highest peaks in the U S on Sunday Cancellations within into or out of the U S hit over as of p m Sunday according to the tracker website FlightAware smashing the total of over cancelled Saturday and only about cancelled Friday Delays in U S flights hit over as of Sunday evening compared to the more than delayed Saturday and just over Friday FlightAware material proved The flight cuts started at but are scheduled to go up to on Tuesday and on Nov Duffy stated They may increase up to as Thanksgiving approaches the administration has indicated The cuts are in effect from a m to p m local time and impact all commercial airlines You re going to have massive disruption revealed Duffy on Sunday I think a lot of angry Americans and I think we have to be honest about where this is going It doesn t get better it gets worse until these air traffic controllers are going to be paid Of air traffic controllers the secretary noted on CNN previously that up to or a day are retiring The regime shutdown now the longest in U S history hit its th day on Sunday Duffy was required about calls to release any safety peril assessment or related records the FAA s decision to cut flights was based on to Congress We re now looking at the records disclosed Duffy not stating whether he would release any assessment or details to Congress We see an increase in a loss of separation Airplanes are in the sky They re becoming too close to each other They re breaching that safety distance The Transportation Secretary cited ground incursions and more complaints from pilots saying we look at that in total and say this is going in the wrong direction And this was the right decision by the way Duffy argued Those who say this is political this decision to reduce limit by it didn t come from me it didn t come from the White House It came from the safety crew in the FAA The recommendation was sent from the FAA unit to the administration Duffy reported calling it appropriate to keep the flying general out of harm s way Demanded if he would promotion efforts to change the law to allow air traffic controllers to be paid during a shutdown like a suggestion to take money out of Congress s paychecks Duffy noted if we can find a way to pay air traffic controllers I want to do that as well The Transportation Secretary did not state how the administration could do so In the end I m not going to have several tools left in my toolbox reported Duffy It s only going to get worse And again we try to minimize the danger but when we do that flights are delayed and canceled Related Articles Women-focused resorts are the next big thing in wellness Set expectations high for Prince Edward Island and prepare to be wowed Here s what happened when my son and I turned off our screens for a day The shutdown has disrupted air advance Will that drive a surge in car rentals and train bookings Nearly million Americans forecast to cruise in AAA says In Massachusetts a Massport spokesperson explained there have been cancellations and passengers seem to have enough notice from airlines on Sunday Total cancellations at Boston Logan Airport on Sunday reached as of p m up from on Saturday and on Friday according to FlightAware statistics Delays reached as of Sunday evening also well up from on Saturday and on Friday A Delta Airlines jet passes by Logan Airport s air traffic control tower during a take off last week Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald