DOT Won’t Immediately Ease Flight Restrictions Despite Shutdown Deal: Duffy

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters on Tuesday that he remains unsure when air travel will return to normal, despite a promising deal taking shape in Congress to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Duffy cited ongoing shortages of air traffic controllers for his decision to throttle flight capacity at as many as 40 major airports across the country, largely because of concerns about controllers who have repeatedly called out sick or stopped coming to work since the shutdown began.

“I question their dedication,” Duffy said during a press conference at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. “I question their patriotism.”

The situation has created mass delays and cancellations for travelers across the country.

“We’re going to watch, analyze, encourage [controllers] to come back, but again, we’re going to start to alleviate the restrictions — we’re at 6% now — we’ll alleviate that only when the data says we should,” Duffy said.

Although the government seems primed to open in the coming days, it will still take time for the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines to ramp up flights to normal levels, Duffy said, adding that he was optimistic because delays and cancellations were down Tuesday compared to the previous few days.

“We will wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions and travel, but it depends on controllers coming back to work,” Duffy said. “Today is a good sign. We had four staffing triggers today. On Saturday, there were 81.”

“I think our air traffic controllers are seeing an end to the shutdown and feel more hopeful,” he added.

Duffy told reporters that levels would not go back to normal until it was absolutely safe to do so, saying that delays and cancellations are not the major concern of the department, which is focused on safety and minimizing accidents.

“I cannot guarantee safety, but I have to look at the risk in this system, and we have to make decisions based on that risk and based on that pressure,” Duffy said. “That is what we have done here.”

Nearly 3,000 flights in the U.S. were delayed and about 1,300 were cancelled on Tuesday, according to data from FlightAware, compared to more than 7,500 delays and 1,500 cancellations on Saturday.