Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that his agency might have to close sections of the U.S. airspace next week due to the ongoing government shutdown, citing a lack of air traffic controllers.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Duffy said that if the government isn’t reopened soon, there will be “mass chaos” including flight delays, flight cancellations, and the closure of airspace in some areas.
The secretary said that a week from Tuesday, “you may see us close certain parts of the airspace” because “we just cannot manage it, because we don’t have the air traffic controllers.”
“With this shutdown, it would be dishonest to say that more risk is not injected into the system. There is more risk in the system,” he said….