International flights will continue operating as normal despite the ongoing government shutdown, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday.
Duffy spoke to reporters this morning at Reagan National Airport as the government shutdown exacerbated travel disruptions nationwide, impacting millions of passengers and forcing the government to reduce flight volume.
"International flights are not going to be impacted, and there's a reason for that," Duffy said. "We have international agreements that we abide by and, because of those international agreements, I'm not going to impact those international flights."
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Duffy said if the agreement was breached, then other countries would ultimately "cut down American flights." He said that would have a "long-lasting impact on our ability to send travelers from the U.S. to those partnering countries."
United Airlines told FOX Business that flights operated by United that connect two of its major hub airports and its international flights will not be impacted by this schedule reduction, as "that’ll help us maintain our operation and give impacted customers as many options as possible to resume their trip."
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American Airlines told FOX Business that there won't be any impact on its international flights at this time, either.
The Federal Aviation Administration said this week that it will reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 high-volume markets to maintain safety amid the shutdown and ongoing air traffic control staffing shortages. The move could eliminate thousands of flights each day for as long as the shutdown continues.
AIRLINES WORK TO LIMIT IMPACT AS FAA CUTS AIR TRAFFIC BY 10% ACROSS 40 MARKETS AMID SHUTDOWN
The reduction was implemented to alleviate pressure on the aviation system, which has already been dealing with a staffing crisis.
Air traffic controllers have been forced to work overtime, with many logging six-day weeks and 10-hour days. Now, they’ve gone more than a month without a paycheck, too. Some have begun calling out due to financial strain, leading to flight delays at major airports.
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More than 3.2 million airline passengers have been impacted by delays or cancellations attributed to staffing shortages tied to air traffic controller staffing issues since a government shutdown began on Oct. 1, industry trade group Airlines for America said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
