Sean Duffy
AirlinesMediaPolitics

Transportation Secretary Warns: Expect Holiday Air Travel “Slow to a Trickle” Amid Shutdown

RNN Staff

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a sobering warning Sunday that Americans hoping to fly home for Thanksgiving may be grounded by a growing crisis in the nation’s air traffic system, as the government shutdown pushes deeper into its second month.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream, Duffy said the country is barreling toward a holiday travel disaster, with air traffic controllers increasingly missing work as their paychecks are withheld. Unless Congress acts, he cautioned, holiday flights will be reduced to a “trickle.”

“As I look two weeks out,” Duffy said, “I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to have air travel slowed to a trickle as everyone wants to see their families.” He added, “You’re going to have massive disruption, I think a lot of angry Americans, and I think we have to be honest about where this is going. It doesn’t get better, it gets worse.”

The FAA has already instructed airlines to reduce flights at major airports by up to 10% in the coming days due to staffing shortages. On Friday alone, more than 5,600 flights were delayed, with hundreds more canceled.

Duffy stressed that while safety remains his top priority, that commitment now requires slashing the number of takeoffs and landings — not because of weather or equipment issues, but because too many critical staff members aren’t showing up, unable to keep working without pay.

“Calm Before the Storm”

The warnings from the administration echoed across multiple Sunday news shows. ABC’s Gio Benitez, reporting on This Week, said the past few days have already seen thousands of delayed or canceled flights. Citing a former TSA official, Benitez called it “the calm before the storm.”

Benitez noted that while air traffic controllers and TSA agents are considered essential and must report to work, the impact of missed paychecks is piling up. Morale is cratering, absenteeism is rising, and many critical workers are calling out due to financial hardship.

Shutdown Enters Holiday Danger Zone

The timing couldn’t be worse. The Thanksgiving travel window, typically one of the busiest of the year, is now just days away. If the government remains shuttered, airlines may have to ground a substantial portion of their scheduled flights due to inadequate staffing — triggering a nightmare scenario for families trying to reunite for the holiday.

The federal shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, began October 1 after Senate Democrats blocked 14 separate Republican attempts to pass a clean continuing resolution. The impasse stems from Democratic demands to extend COVID-era Obamacare subsidies — a condition Republicans say has nothing to do with funding basic government operations.

President Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have all blamed Democrats for holding services hostage in order to prop up what they call a broken and costly healthcare system.

Despite growing public frustration, Democrats have remained unmoved. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently offered a one-year extension of the subsidies in exchange for temporarily reopening the government — a proposal Republicans flatly rejected as unserious.

Mounting Political Pressure

As air travel threatens to grind to a halt, pressure is intensifying on both parties — but especially Democrats, who have traditionally relied on support from federal workers’ unions, airline labor groups, and transit-dependent urban constituencies.

The Biden-era shutdowns in 2018-2019 also led to travel headaches, but nothing on this scale. In that case, airports saw longer lines and occasional closures. This time, officials are warning of an across-the-board collapse of domestic air traffic if a deal isn’t reached soon.

Secretary Duffy made clear the administration is prepared to act to preserve safety — even if that means shutting down the skies.

“I think we’re going to have to slow the system down dramatically,” he said. “If the air traffic controllers aren’t there, flights don’t leave. It’s that simple.”

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the fate of holiday travel may now rest not with pilots or airlines — but with lawmakers still at war over healthcare subsidies and shutdown brinkmanship.

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