Washington: The US government shutdown has entered its seventh day, with flight delays reported across multiple airports nationwide.
Flights were delayed at airports in New York, Denver and Los Angeles due to shortages of air traffic controllers. Staffing shortages are also being reported in Washington, DC, Newark, New Jersey, and Jacksonville, Florida.
A pilot was preparing to take off from Hollywood Burbank Airport in California on Monday and radioed the air traffic control tower. Instead of the normal exchange about departure, the pilot was told, “The tower is closed due to staffing,” according to audio recorded by LiveATC.net.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the Democrats for the crisis, saying that the opposition party is threatening the well-being of air traffic controllers and their families.
“Our air traffic control workforce deserves to go to work, get paid, and not have the distraction of a government shutdown threatening their well-being and the well-being of their families,” he posted on X.
Military and civilian staff are not being paid during the shutdown, while around 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay. The DoT has halted additional activities like hiring and training of air traffic controllers.
Duffy announced on Monday that a federal program to subsidise air travel to rural areas would run out of funds by the end of the week if the shutdown persists.
“There are many small communities across the country that will no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service in their communities,” he said.
US President Donald Trump on Monday indicated he’s ready to negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government as another funding bill vote in the Senate failed to break the deadlock.
In a Truth Social Post, Trump said, “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open.”
Earlier in the day, while speaking to the media, Trump asserted that said “negotiations on health care are underway with Democrats.”
“We are speaking with the Democrats, and some very good things could happen with respect to healthcare.”
The Republicans have accused Democrats of demanding healthcare subsidies for illegal immigrants, which the Democrats reject as a lie peddled by the Trump administration.
Democrats say they are asking to reverse the healthcare cuts for American citizens in the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which was passed earlier this year.
Around two-thirds of the employees of the National Park Service, the federal agency that manages national parks, have also been furloughed during the shutdown, affecting tourist sites such as caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and White Sands National Park in New Mexico.
In Washington, DC, the Library of Congress, the National Archives Museum, the Washington Monument and the National Arboretum have been shut, and tours of the Capitol Building and the Pentagon have been suspended.
The Smithsonian Institution’s museums and National Zoo in Washington announced last week that they would remain open to the public until October 11.
This is the first US government shutdown in seven years, as the last one happened under Trump 1.0 and lasted for 35 days – the longest in history.
(IANS)
