Transportation Secretary: If Shutdown Continues, Flights Will Be Delayed, Canceled To Ensure Safety

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Sunday that air traffic controller shortages are causing a “level of risk” that might necessitate flight delays and cancellations to ensure traveler safety as the government shutdown drags on.

Appearing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” with host Martha Raddatz, Duffy was asked about various issues being caused by air traffic control shortages.

“Americans have experienced major delay. There’s a ground stop this morning at Newark all because air traffic controllers are calling in sick. The FAA is saying that currently, nearly 50% of major air traffic control facilities are experiencing staffing shortages, and nearly 80% of air traffic controllers are out at New York-area facilities,” Raddatz said. “We know that safety is your greatest concern, but at some point, might you have to shut down portions of the U.S. airspace, maybe even airports? What point are we at that possibility?”

After noting that he’s been speaking with air traffic controllers who are understandably frustrated as “Democrats are focusing on illegal health care,” Duffy stated that the administration will do what’s necessary to ensure passenger safety.

“We will delay, we will cancel any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe. But there is a level of risk that gets injected into the system when we have a controller that’s doing two jobs instead of one. We manage that, we look out for it, and safety is the priority. We’ll take all steps necessary, though, to make sure that you get from point A to point B, and you do it safely,” Duffy said.

Transportation Sec. Duffy warns of a “level of risk” when air traffic controllers are stretched too thin, but says that safety is his department’s priority: “We will delay, we will cancel, any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe.”… pic.twitter.com/CALMD4sufL

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 2, 2025

Raddatz also pressed Duffy on a timeline: “How close are we to this point where you might have to close airspace or airports as we watch air traffic controllers calling in sick?”

Duffy responded that as expenses pile up for air traffic controllers who aren’t being paid, decisions will have to be made on supplemental employment.

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“And the problem is these controllers, a lot of them are new controllers, or they’re trainee controllers. They don’t make a lot of money, and so they may be the only person that is bringing money into the household. They have to make a decision: do I go to work and not get a paycheck and not put food on the table, or do I drive for Uber or Door Dash or wait tables?”

“I hope Democrats are going to come to their senses and open the government back up. But I would just tell you, as bad as it is, the numbers you just gave … if the government doesn’t open in the next week or two, we’ll look back as these were the good days, not the bad days. It’s only going to get worse,” the Transportation Secretary said.

“If the government doesn’t open in the next week or two, we’ll look back as these were the good days, not the bad days.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks with @martharaddatz about the growing difficulty ATC workers face while going without pay. https://t.co/x73HSd9XsC pic.twitter.com/mZpj7sku0n

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 2, 2025