As the US federal shutdown approaches its 40th day, in-air impacts of the shutdown cause serious disruptions to air transportation nationally. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy echoed the impact as he warned that if the shutdown continued, air traffic would be “reduced to a trickle.” Second, federal funding is caught in limbo. As a consequence, hundreds of thousands of federal workers have missed paychecks since the government shut down on October 1.
On just Sunday morning, about 1,400 flights to, from, or within the US had been cancelled. Simultaneously, nearly 2,700 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware. And Newark, New Jersey, had the longest – over two hour delays on average. This lingering upheaval has frustrated and stranded millions of travelers, many of whom have learned to adapt to an unpredictable and disruptive air travel environment.
In response to this chaos, President Donald Trump suggested sending money directly to Americans to help them afford health insurance. Yet, this harmless-sounding suggestion has muddied the waters even further. Republican and Democratic leaders have yet to stop pointing fingers at one another for the stalemate. Democrats are not going to support any Republican spending plan without health insurance subsidy funding included. On the other hand, Republicans push for giving the money without any other conditions.
We applaud Republican senators’ focus on addressing the flight disruptions. They are working on a bipartisan compromise package to end the prolonged shutdown. Although a vote to advance this legislation could happen as soon as Sunday, serious questions exist over whether or not it will pass.
Food assistance for low-income Americans, which is usually administered through the states, has encountered serious obstacles during the shutdown. In doing so, the administration has only committed to covering half of the monthly benefits, putting thousands of families in a difficult bind.
Transportation Secretary Duffy, in a rare bipartisan show, accepted an unsolicited proposal from Defence Secretary Mark Esper. He recommended the use of military air traffic controllers, to ease the burden on daily civilian operations. Duffy turned down this aid, suggesting that things are still under control for the time being.
“You’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.” – Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
Duffy further emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating, “Many of them 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.”