![\"A](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/airplane-1024x769.jpg\")
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A plane prepares to land at Newark Liberty International Airport. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo\/New Jersey Monitor)<\/p>\n
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday the Federal Aviation Administration would restrict air travel in 40 \u201chigh-traffic\u201d areas of the country to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who have been working without a paycheck since Oct. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cutbacks will start Friday, Duffy said at an afternoon press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said they would share more details, including which airports would be affected, Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The officials emphasized the measure was proactive to prevent a safety failure, and they said air travel remained extremely safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re noticing that there\u2019s additional pressure that\u2019s building in the system,\u201d Duffy said. \u201cOur priority is to make sure that you\u2019re safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy did not specify the locations that will see a reduction in air traffic, but said the decisions were based on data of the locations where such pressure is increasing.<\/p>\n
While the administration has so far avoided large-scale travel problems during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1, Duffy and Bedford said they were seeing strain on the air traffic controllers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Air traffic controllers are considered exempt federal employees, meaning they must work, but are not paid, during the shutdown. Some are taking second jobs to make ends meet, leading to fatigue, Duffy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duffy said the restrictions would likely lead to more cancellations, which he said he was \u201cconcerned about,\u201d but decided to prioritize safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a gut check of, what is our job?\u201d he said. \u201cIs it to make sure there\u2019s minimal delays or minimal cancellations, or is our job to make sure we make the hard decisions to continue to keep the airspace safe? That is our job, is safety.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A plane prepares to land at Newark Liberty International Airport. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo\/New Jersey Monitor) U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday the Federal Aviation Administration would restrict air travel in 40 \u201chigh-traffic\u201d areas of the country to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who have been working without a paycheck since Oct. 1.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n