Department of Transportation might be forced to shut down some airspace next week: Duffy [View all]

Source: ABC News

Department of Transportation might be forced to shut down some airspace next week: Duffy

"You will see mass chaos," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

By Ayesha Ali
November 4, 2025, 12:10 PM ET
• 2 min read

The Department of Transportation might be forced to shut down the airspace in certain parts of the country if the government shutdown continues into next week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday.

"So if, if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos," he said. "You will see mass flight delays. You'll see mass cancelations, 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."

Nearly 50% of all major air traffic control facilities face staffing shortages, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Air traffic controllers are required to work without pay for the duration of the shutdown.

"We will delay, we will cancel, any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe" amid the shortages, Duffy told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday, at the same time a ground stop was in effect at Newark Liberty International Airport. … "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," he added.

{snip}

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/department-transportation-forced-shut-airspace-week-duffy/story?id=127178219