Lack of funding for air traffic control to impact 4,000 airline flights per day.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cut flights at 40 high-traffic airports by 10 percent starting Friday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford cited fatigue in air traffic control workers during the government shutdown as the reason for the reduction in airline flights.
Officials called the move “proactive“ and affirmed the nation’s airspace is as safe as it ever was. Administrator Bedford said that the locations where controllers experience the most pressure will be more affected. The transportation secretary said they are working with airlines “to do this in a systematic way.“
“If you remember, with the DCA air crash, a lot of you asked us questions, ‘Why didn’t the FAA see that there were near misses in the airspace’ … and I think that was a great question, we learned from that,” Secretary Duffy said, referring to the fatal January midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
He continued, “So now we look at data, and before it would become an issue, we assess the pressure and we try to make moves before there could be adverse consequences.”
“This was not taken lightly. There was a lot of effort put into this,” Secretary Duffy said. “If the data goes in the wrong direction, could you see additional restrictions? Yes, it will be data driven, safety driven.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Secretary Duffy as he seeks to ensure the safety of air travel in the United States.
- For Administrator Bedford as he assesses the fatigue of air traffic controllers due to the government shutdown.
Sources: Roll Call, Daily Wire
