Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth suggested during a hearing that the Trump administration was playing politics with the aviation system during the shutdown to force an agreement to reopen the government.
Airlines have canceled over 9,000 flights across the U.S. since the Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight cuts late last week.
Air travelers should expect worsening cancellations and delays this week even if the government shutdown ends.
Continued staffing shortages in air traffic control facilities are causing delays at airports as the government shutdown nears the one-month mark.
Air traffic controllers are missing another paycheck due to the ongoing government shutdown, raising concerns about financial stress affecting their work.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he understands the frustrations and worries of air traffic controllers who have to work without a paycheck during the government shutdown, but he and the union that represents controllers are also now emphasizing that calling out sick in protest could cost them their jobs.
Staffing shortages led to more flight delays at airports across the U.S. as the federal government shutdown stretched into a seventh day.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the government shutdown is putting more stress on air traffic controllers who already have an extremely stressful job, as well as threatening a program that small communities rely on to help subsidize airline service.
Just a day before a deadly midair collision at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.