Sean Duffy Says He Wants to Fire ‘Problem Children’ Air Traffic Controllers

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said air traffic controllers, who are already facing short staffing and delayed paychecks due to the ongoing government shutdown, may not be paid if they call out sick repeatedly — and could even be fired from their jobs.

“Listen, we need more controllers, but we need the best and the brightest of dedicated controllers,” Duffy said Thursday during an interview on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.” “If we have some on our staff that aren’t dedicated like we need, we’re gonna let them go. I can’t have people not showing up for work.”

Duffy claimed that about 10% of air traffic controllers are calling in sick to work in an attempt at “lashing out” at Democrats responsible for the federal government shutdown.

Before the shutdown, Duffy said, air traffic controller staffing shortages were responsible for about 5% of flight delays. Current shortages are responsible for 53% of delays, he said, adding that there is a “continual small set of controllers that don’t show up to work, and they’re the problem children.”

“It’s a small fraction of people who don’t come to work that can create this massive disruption, and that’s what you’re seeing rippling through our skies today,” Duffy continued.

In a statement to NOTUS earlier this week, the FAA said it “is not responding to routine media inquiries” during the “lapse in funding.” The Department of Transportation posted a statement to X on Tuesday blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

“We’re seeing an uptick in controller shortages across the country,” the department wrote. “And where are the radical democrats? Voting against giving our great controllers a paycheck. This is the last thing they need.”

Staffing shortages were reported in seven cities across the country, resulting in more than 15,000 flight delays since Monday. Additionally, airport towers in Nashville and Los Angeles were forced to go dark for five to six hours.

Duffy came under fire in February for firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration staff amid a series of federal employee firings led by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Duffy revealed a plan in May to address the staffing crisis for air traffic controllers and to “modernize” the system.

“If we give them the best equipment, we’re going to have more young men and women who want to sign up to be air traffic controllers,” Duffy said at the time.

Nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers face delayed paychecks due to the government shutdown.