The Trump administration is warning that many Americans may be unable to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday due to the recent government shutdown.
With flight delays wreaking havoc across the country due to the shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning citizens that traveling for Thanksgiving may not be feasible.
Every year, millions of Americans travel on Thanksgiving, as it is a holiday for gathering with family and friends.
However, it may not be easy to do that this year.
The government was shut down for 41 days, marking the longest time in U.S. history.
The last time the government was nearly shut down for as long was from 2018-2019, when it was closed for 35 days.
In an interview with CNN host Jake Tapper, Duffy highlighted the challenges the shutdown posed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Yesterday, 18 to 22 controllers in Atlanta didn’t show up. We had 81 staffing [shortage] ‘triggers’ throughout the national airspace yesterday,” Duffy said. “It’s only going to get worse. I look to the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.”
During the government shutdown, air traffic controllers were not compensated for their work, as reported by The New York Post.
Given this, many controllers scrambled to find alternative means of income, with some not showing up at all.
Duffy noted the difficulties that the shutdown caused in the aviation industry.
“I used to have about four controllers retire a day before the shutdown. I’m now up to 15 to 20 a day that are retiring,” the transportation secretary said.
“So it’s going to be harder for me to come back from that and have more controllers controlling the airspace,” he added.
Duffy said that he and his team are ensuring that travel remains safe.
He said that in areas where staffing is limited, airlines will likely cancel flights or experience delays.
The transportation secretary stated that Americans will suffer due to the shutdown, noting that many will struggle to board an airplane in time for the upcoming holiday.
“Many are not going to be able to get on an airplane because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn’t open back up,” he said.
“We have controllers who, again, are making decisions to feed their families,” he added. “The problem is, they’re confronted with real economic problems.”
The Senate reached a deal on Sunday night to end the shutdown. The upper chamber reached an agreement to fund the government through Jan. 30.
In a 60-40 vote, with 8 Democrats joining Republicans, the Senate voted to reopen the government. Despite the government being on the verge of reopening, hundreds of air traffic controllers have already retired because of the shutdown.
