Sean Duffy: Airlines Were Days Away From Grounding Entire Fleets Ahead Of Thanksgiving

BOSTON — “We were not going to get to Thanksgiving.”

That’s the assessment of Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the man who was in charge of keeping planes in the sky as Democrats kept the government shutdown for the longest period in American history.

“Had the shutdown not ended, we were not going to get to Thanksgiving,” Duffy told The Daily Wire from the Secretary’s Cup at Fenway Park in Boston. “Would have been not just mass chaos, I think we would have seen airlines actually ground their fleets.”

“It was getting bad fast,” he said. “So what we’ve seen now is our controllers have come back online. We have more normal staffing levels. We’re almost back to staffing levels that we had before the shutdown. So what we’re doing now is analyzing the data to make sure that we have the numbers going in the right direction towards safety.”

“And when that happens,” he added, “we’re going to allow the number of flights to go back up again.”

The government shutdown, which began on October 1, ended on November 12 when President Donald Trump signed the funding bill passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was the longest shutdown in American history, and Duffy, as well as other administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, had warned of significant Thanksgiving travel issues if it had continued.

As it is, the FAA predicted on Friday that this Thanksgiving travel season would be the busiest in 15 years, also predicting that Tuesday would be the peak travel day for those flying, with more than 52,000 flights.

Line graph showing flight volume during Thanksgiving week. Courtesy FAA.

“Thanks to the dedication of our air traffic controllers and every FAA employee, we are ready for the holiday rush and take pride in helping travelers reach their friends and families during this important time of year,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. “I am deeply grateful to our entire FAA team. Even through a period of record-high traffic, their unwavering commitment keeps the system running safely.”

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The FAA said air traffic controllers would use a range of strategies to keep flights operating safely, encouraging passengers to be “patient, be kind and follow crew member instructions.”

According to AAA, almost 82 million Americans are projected to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. That’s an increase of 1.6 million travelers compared to last year, “setting a new overall record.”

For his part, Duffy is encouraging those flying for the holidays to dress well to bring “civility” back to air travel.

“People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly,” Duffy shared on Fox News earlier this month. “We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season, help people out, be in a good mood, dress up.”

A video released by the Transportation Department shows passengers flying in business suits and dresses, then pans to modern-day passengers in pajamas, sweatpants, and other casual garb.

“Things aren’t what they used to be,” Duffy said. “Let’s bring civility and manners back.”

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO WITH SEAN DUFFY:

I spent a day at Fenway Park with @SecDuffy attending the Secretaries’Cup!

We chatted about everything, including our big families, how close airlines were to grounding entire fleets, and how important it was for his mariners to beat Kristi Noem’s coasties in football. pic.twitter.com/4iXh0pHMWr

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) November 26, 2025