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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the ongoing government shutdown may result in the closure of portions of U.S. airspace, which he predicts will lead to “mass chaos.”
Duffy said the shutdown — which is currently tied for the longest shutdown in U.S. history at 35 days — may force him to close off certain portions of U.S. airspace as soon as next week, which will ground flights, ABC News reports.
“So if, if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos,” he said. “You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancelations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers.”
Almost half of all major air traffic control facilities are already facing staffing shortages, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Controllers are still working to keep the country operating, but they are doing so without pay, as are many other critical government workers.
According to the FAA, approximately 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay, but those workers’ tolerance for doing the job without compensation will run out. On Friday, around 80 percent of air traffic controllers in New York had called off, the agency said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said “mass chaos” would ensue if the government shutdown forced him to close portions of U.S. airspace next week (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
During an event in Philadelphia on Monday, Duffy said that the controllers “have bills to pay, and they are being forced to make decisions and choices.”
“Do they go to work as an air traffic controller, or do they have to find a different job to get resources, money, to put food on their table, to put gas in their car?” he said. “And as every day goes by, I think the problem is only going to get worse, not better.”
Duffy’s recent concern for the welfare of controllers is a reverse of a position he took early last month, when he told Fox News’ Varney & Co that he would “let them go” if they weren’t “dedicated” to showing up for work.
He has since walked back that position, telling CBS’ Face the Nation that he wouldn’t be firing any of the controllers during the shut down.
“They need support, they need money, they need a paycheck. They don’t need to be fired,” he said.
He also warned that there is “more risk” for airline passengers now due to the strain on the air traffic control system.
“But with this shutdown, it would be dishonest to say that more risk is not injected into the system,” he said. “There is more risk in the system.”
Duffy and other Republican leaders have tried to hoist the blame for the shutdown on Democrats, who have refused to vote on further funding until the Trump administration reverses its planned cuts to Americans’ healthcare.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Democrats “will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.”
“That’s been our position week after week after week, and it will continue to be our position because the Republican healthcare crisis is crushing the American people,” Jeffries said in a statement on Monday. “And now that we’re in the midst of open enrollment, tens of millions of Americans all across the country are realizing that their premiums, co-pays and deductibles are going to skyrocket, in some cases $1,000 to $2,000 more per month that working-class Americans are being asked to pay.”
