US transport secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday warned that if the government shutdown continues for another week, it will disrupt air travel by worsening staff shortages, causing long queues at airports and forcing the closure of parts of US airspace.“So if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos… You will see mass flight delays,” he said at a news conference in Philadelphia, as quoted by news agency AFP.
“You’ll see mass cancellations, and 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 US Congress still deadlocked over health care funding, the shutdown is on track to become the longest in US history. Public services continue to be affected as Trump’s Republicans and Democrats remain unable to reach an agreement.More than 60,000 air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff are currently working without pay. The White House has warned that rising absenteeism among staff could lead to delays at airport security checkpoints.During the 2019 shutdown, one of the two longest shutdowns at 35 days, similar staff shortages and sick calls from airport workers were a key factor in ending the standoff.In the latest effort to reopen the government, a House-approved resolution failed again in the Senate on Tuesday, marking the 14th rejection.Democrats say reopening the government requires negotiation led by Trump on their demand to extend subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health insurance. Trump has said he will not negotiate with Democrats until the shutdown ends.
