Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that nationwide flight reductions could climb as high as 20 percent if the government shutdown continues, citing air traffic controller shortages that have already led to a phased 10 percent reduction in flights targeting 40 high-traffic airports that began on Friday.

Speaking at a Breitbart News event, Duffy said the department’s focus remains on safety as unpaid controllers increasingly struggle to report for duty.

“If this continues and I have more controllers who decide they can’t come to work … you might see 10 percent would have been a good number, because we might go to 15 percent or 20 percent,” he said.

Safety Concerns Behind Phased Cuts

Duffy said the decision to scale back flights was driven by data showing a rise in spacing er

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