Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told FOX Business on Friday that major U.S. airlines are “going to lose millions of dollars” after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) slashed flights at airports around the country due to the ongoing government shutdown.
In order to reduce the strain on air traffic controllers, who have been working unpaid since the start of the shutdown over a month ago, triggering staffing issues at airports across the country, the FAA is initiating a temporary 10% reduction in flights at 40 high-traffic airports across the U.S.
“The airlines have been good partners. They don’t love this. They’re going to lose millions of dollars because of this. It’s challenging for them to take down flights,” Duffy told FOX Business Washington correspondent Grady Trimble at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“And to those passengers that are upset, listen, call your Democrat senator. Fourteen times they voted no to open up the government,” Duffy added.
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“Those in the House that are sniping at me, they voted no to open up the government. And again, you can have votes. There’s a process on how this is supposed to work in the Congress. Shutdowns are not the way you get your will and your way if you’ve lost elections. You introduce bills, you debate, you vote. That’s what you do. And if you can’t get what you want, you don’t shut the government down and inflict this pain on the American people,” Duffy continued.
The FAA’s plan calls for a 4% cut in flights beginning Friday, and ramping up to 6% by Tuesday, Nov. 11. By Thursday, Nov. 13, the reduction will hit 8%, and finally 10% on Friday, Nov. 14.
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“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a news release. “The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.”
Duffy also said Friday, “Let’s open the government up.”
“Let’s pay our controllers and reduce the pressure. That’s not happening. The Senate actually is going home this weekend. As many people here can’t get home, the Senate goes home. They should be here every day, every weekend, every week, trying to find a deal so we can open the government back up,” he added.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
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