Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
FAA Orders 10% Reduction in US Flights
The first few days of any government shut down are almost exactly the same as the few days before it. Only when a couple of weeks have passed do things get serious. Once federal employees miss a paycheck, the country starts to pay attention. Air traffic controlers have one of the most important and stressful jobs in the world, and they have not been paid in a month. Many are calling in sick rather than work without pay, and some are taking other jobs to make ends meet. Yesterday, the Secretary of Transportation and the FAA announced a 10% reduction in the number of flights allowed in and out of the 40 busiest airports in the country. As people travel for Thanksgiving, this is going to bite hard.
The Associate Press noted, "Air traffic controllers have been working unpaid since the shutdown began Oct. 1, and most have been on duty six days a week while putting in mandatory overtime." Abraham Lincoln lead the nation into war over the idea of people working without pay. Yet, here the Trump administration sits.
The wireservice added, "The cutback stands to impact thousands of flights nationwide because the FAA directs more than 44,000 flights daily, including commercial passenger flights, cargo planes and private aircraft. The agency didn't immediately identify which airports or cities will be affected but said the restrictions would remain in place as long as necessary."
Airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, who is president of Atmosphere Research Group, said, "To tell airlines you've got 48 hours to rebuild your schedules at 90% of what you"ve got isn"t much time, and it's going to result in a lot of chaos." He added that the Trump administration may be using aviation safety "to force the two sides in Washington back to the negotiating table to resolve the shutdown."
That is largely what happened in the last government shutdown. The 2018-2019 shutdown ended when a temporary funding bill opened the government for three weeks. The catalysts then were federal employees not getting paid for 5 weeks (as today) and the disruptions to airline travel (happening now). The question is who blinks first.
The Democrats are irrelevant to the immediate situation. They have let the Republicans know they will vote with the GOP to reopen the government if the cuts to medical insurance are reversed. It is up to the Republicans to either find another way to open things up or to hammer out the details of a deal on healthcare. While there is a rift in the Republican Party, it is not over healthcare.
The White House has made it clear that it would like the Senate to get rid of the filibuster and pass the legislation the House of Representatives passed weeks ago. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is unwilling to do so, and he may lack the votes to change the rules. He would need 51, which means he needs to keep all but 2 of his team onside. No Democrat is going to vote for such a change.
If the Republicans cannot figure out what they want to do, this shutdown will continue. A 10% reduction in flights will hurt, and there is no reason to believe that it will not get worse: 15% or 20% even. The shutdown is estimated to have cut GDP by 1% for the fourth quarter of 2025, and if it goes on much longer, the US could find itself with a shrinking economy.
The Republicans have a problem on their hands. If they do not fix it, their credibility with the voters will fall farther, and they already took a beating in the elections held Tuesday. The longer this goes on, the more likely the Democrats will take control of the House after the 2026 elections, and the Senate could even be in play.
The decline under the Trump administration continues to accelerate.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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