The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it would reduce airline traffic by 10% in 40 “high-volume” markets due to the government shutdown, causing staffing shortages. This comes a day after a UPS flight crashed in Louisville, killing 11.
Since the shutdown began, air traffic controllers have worked without pay, and many have called out of work. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the system is short as many as 3,000 controllers. On Sunday alone, the staffing shortage caused more than 5,000 flight delays.
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FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency won’t wait for a problem before it acts. During a press conference on Wednesday, he said the shutdown is causing staffing problems and “we can’t ignore it.”
Which airports will this impact?
FAA officials said they plan to meet with airline officials later today to figure out how to implement the reduction. They have not said which “high-volume” markets or airports would be affected but said a list would be released on Thursday.
According to FAA data, about 3 million people fly in the U.S. every day. The reduction could impact thousands of flights across the country.
Duffy said they plan to use a “data-driven approach” to determine where they plan to make reductions. The announcement comes days after Duffy said he would ground planes if he didn’t think the airspace was safe.
