The Washington administration intends to impose air traffic restrictions at some major airports starting November 7 and limit space launches to certain hours of the day due to the partial shutdown of the federal government.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the plans at a press conference on Wednesday.
He noted that the shutdown has created a shortage of air traffic controllers and other technical specialists at airports across the country. Duffy said that US authorities will take security measures in response.
“One of them will be to reduce traffic at 40 of our points by 10%“, he said. He explained that this applies to major US airports. A list of them will be published soon.
The secretary announced that space launches in the United States will be allowed only during “certain hours of the day“. “Launches could significantly disrupt airspace operations”, Duffy explained. He did not provide further details.
According to the secretary of state, the new regulations will come into effect “on Friday, November 7, the morning”. Their duration has not yet been specified. Duffy admitted the possibility of additional restrictions.
A partial shutdown of the US federal government began at midnight on October 1 due to a lack of funding after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a number of spending items, including health care. They still cannot reach an agreement. Democrats and Republicans have accused each other of instigating the shutdown and prolonging it for political gain.
The current US government shutdown has already become the longest in the country's history, breaking the record set in 2018-2019 during Donald Trump's first term as president. It began at midnight on December 22, 2018, and ended on its 35th day, January 25, 2019.