Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that air travel delays and cancellations will only spread as the country barrels into the third day of government-mandated flight cuts on Sunday, Nov. 9.

"It's only going to get worse," Duffy said in an interview with CNN. "I look to the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle."

"We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays, they want to see their families, they want to celebrate this great American holiday," Duffy added. "Listen, many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly unless this thing doesn't open back up."

The secretary said lawmakers should open the federal government immediately for travelers. He also cited the financial strain on federal air traffic controllers, who have gone more than a month without pay.

Duffy and other aviation officials have said the restrictions are necessary to ensure safety while air traffic controllers are understaffed, a strain exacerbated by the shutdown. He has also hit back at Democratic leaders, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, who alleged the moves are politically motivated.

"This is not political, this is strictly safety," he told CNN. "And I'm doing what I can in a mess that Democrats have put in my lap. And now I'm trying to keep the American people safe and keep airplanes flying."

Officials initially said travelers would see a 10% reduction in flights at 40 major airports last week. But the Transportation secretary has upped that number in recent days, saying Nov. 7 that restrictions could jump to 15% or even 20% of all scheduled flights.

The restrictions have already thrown travel into chaos, as scenes of massive lines and hours-long delays pop up at airports around the country.

Over 1,000 flights were canceled across the United States by the afternoon on Saturday, Nov. 8, according to FlightAware data, and more than 1,100 had already been canceled by the morning of Sunday, Nov. 9.

The chaos has added another layer of pressure for lawmakers over the shutdown, which is now the longest in American history.

Duffy also said in an interview on Fox News on Nov. 9 that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has offered to send air traffic controllers “in reserve” to help the situation.

“If we could deploy them, and I don’t know that we can, we got to see what air spaces they worked in, but he will step in and try to provide some relief in the skies," Duffy said.

Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Air travel could be reduced to 'trickle' as Thanksgiving approaches, Sean Duffy says

Reporting by Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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