WASHINGTON ¨C Airlines canceled more than 2,200 U.S. flights on Sunday and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned air travel would fall to a ¡°trickle¡± in the run-up to the Thanksgiving holiday as air traffic control staffing shortages surge during the federal shutdown.
Major airlines were dealing with a third day of government-mandated flight cuts after thousands of delays and cancellations snarled traffic on Saturday. The shutdown, which has reached a record 40 days, has led to shortages of air traffic controllers who, like other federal employees, have not been paid for weeks.
¡°It¡¯s only going to get worse ... the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you¡¯re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle,¡± Duffy said on CNN¡¯s ¡°State of the Union¡± program.
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