Air traffic delays expected to continue after government reopens

MOSINEE, Wis. (WBAY) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning travelers to expect continued delays at airports, even after the government reopens.

Duffy says restrictions on air traffic will only be lifted once there are enough air traffic controllers back on the job.

Sean Duffy spoke about this while meeting with air traffic controllers on Tuesday at the Central Wisconsin Airport, just outside Wausau.

He said federal workers could receive paychecks, with back pay, just 48 hours after President Trump signs the bill to reopen the government.

Duffy also indicated his support for a social media post on Monday, where the president indicated air traffic controllers who call in sick during the shutdown should be punished and said he would work to give $10,000 bonuses to controllers who do not miss a day of work.

Right now, Duffy says, it’s not known how many of those workers might be eligible for that bonus.

All of this comes ahead of a Thanksgiving holiday that could break records for air travel, with three million people expected to fly that Sunday alone.

If you’re going somewhere, Duffy says there’s just no timetable for things to get back to normal.

“It is their jobs, and they will be paid, but it might not be immediate they come back in and so we’re going to watch, analyze, and encourage them to come back but we’re going to start to alleviate the restrictions that are at six percent now, we’ll alleviate that only when the data says we should,” Secretary Duffy said.

Duffy also said the agency will continue to look for bad actors who called off repeatedly during the shutdown, but did not disclose what, if any, disciplinary action might be taken

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