‘Is it Even Safe to Fly Right Now?’ Fox’s Maria Bartiromo Presses Trump Transportation Secretary On Air Traffic Controller Shortages
Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo pressed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about air traffic controller staffing shortages amid the ongoing government shutdown.
In an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, Bartiromo asked Duffy “Are you seeing a lot of TSA and transportation workers now call in sick, say they’re not coming to work since they’re not getting paid?”
“They got their notice on Thursday and Friday,” Duffy replied. “They get a notice of what they’re going to be paid on Tuesday. And they got a big fat zero. No paycheck is coming on Tuesday. And so I’ve been out talking to our air traffic controllers. And you can see the stress. These are people that oftentimes live paycheck-to-paycheck, or one controller has a stay-at-home spouse. They’re concerned about gas in the car. They’re concern about child care and mortgages. And so I’m seeing the stress come for the controllers.”
In recent days, airports in New York, Washington, Phoenix, Houston, San Diego are among those which have reported delays due to staffing issues. On top of the delays, Bartiromo wanted to know if safety is a concern as a result of the depleted staff.
“The bottom line here is you’ve got fewer people working on the job,” Bartiromo said. “Is it even safe to fly right now, Secretary?”
Duffy replied, “That’s job number one, Maria. And again, I need my controllers focused on the airspace, not about the finances at home. They’ll tell me there is that seepage of how are they gonna deal with those finances. My job is to keep the air space safe. And so if I don’t feel like I have enough controllers or enough controllers that are focused, we will slow down traffic, we will stop traffic. And that’s why you see the delays in the system. And the job number is, again, get people to where they’re going safely. And if it’s not on time, Well, call the Democrats.”
Bartiromo went on to note that holiday travel may be impacted, and Duffy confirmed the likelihood that Americans will feel “real pains” — should the shutdown continue.
Watch above, via Fox News.
