The Transportation Department could be forced to close airspace in certain parts of the country if the government shutdown continues into next week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.
“So if we take it a week from today, Democrats, we’re going to see massive chaos,” he said. “You will see massive flight delays. You will see massive cancellations and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just can’t manage it because we don’t have air traffic controllers.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, nearly 50% of all major air traffic control facilities face staffing shortages. Air traffic controllers must work without pay for the duration of the shutdown.
According to the FAA, about 13,000 air traffic controllers currently work without pay. On Friday, the agency said 80% of New York-area staff had called.
“These hard-working Americans have bills to pay and are forced to make decisions and choices,” Duffy said Monday of air traffic controllers at an unrelated event in Philadelphia. “Are they going to work as air traffic controllers, or do they have to look for a different job to get resources, money, to put food on their table, to put gas in their car? And as the days go by, I think the problem is only going to get worse, not better.”
People wait in a security check line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, Nov. 4, 2025. With the federal government shutdown entering its second month, lines at airports are expected to grow amid increased absenteeism among security personnel at some of the country’s busiest hubs.
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images
Duffy said last month that air traffic controllers could be fired if they didn’t show up for work.
“When you come to work, you get paid,” Duffy said Oct. 9 while speaking on Varney. & Co.” “If you don’t come to work, you don’t get paid. … If we have some on our staff who are not dedicated, we will let them go.”
But the transportation secretary softened that stance over the weekend, telling CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he would not fire any air traffic controllers for not showing up for work.
“They need support, they need money, they need a salary. They don’t need to be fired,” he said.
Duffy made similar comments about the airspace closure during an interview with ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.
“We will delay, we will cancel any type of flight through the national airspace to ensure that people are safe” amid the shortage, Duffy said, while at the same time a ground stop was in effect at Newark Liberty International Airport due to staffing issues.
“There is a level of risk that is injected into the system when we have a controller doing two jobs instead of one,” he added.
