Vance and Duffy warn Thanksgiving journey ‘could be a disaster’ if shutdown barrels on

Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Thursday that Americans may face a journey “disaster” as Thanksgiving approaches subsequent month with out an finish in sight to the federal government shutdown.

Their feedback got here after Vance hosted a roundtable of aviation, journey and union leaders on the White House, throughout which they aired their issues with the present state of the business and labored out potential, momentary options to ease the pressure on Federal Aviation Administration workers who’re being pressured to work with out pay to make sure Americans can fly safely, two White House officers instructed CNN.

“Look it could be a disaster. It really could be, because at that point you’re talking about people have missed three paychecks. They’ve missed four paychecks. How many of them are not going to show up for work?” Vance stated.

“That’s going to lead to massive delays. We want people to be able to get home for Thanksgiving. We want people to be able to travel for business,” he continued.

Duffy chimed in including, “Our traffic will be snarled, but it will be a disaster in aviation.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Nick Daniels, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley have been amongst those that attended Thursday’s roundtable, the officers stated, along with 9 different business leaders.

Behind closed doorways, Vance and Duffy listened as O’Brien and Kelley laid out their issues concerning the stress on their workforce, the officers instructed CNN. Meanwhile Isom and Kirby, along with a collection of different airline affiliation leaders, made clear simply how damaging the shutdown was not solely to their business, but in addition the bigger economic system.

Duffy instructed the group that he was engaged on recruiting extra air site visitors controllers as a short lived resolution, arguing that they’re most affected, they stated.

The assembly got here as air site visitors controllers missed their first full paycheck of the shutdown this week. Controllers, employed by the FAA, are among the many authorities workers required to proceed working with out pay.

During the primary Trump administration, controller staffing shortages helped tip the scales to finish the longest authorities shutdown.

In 2019, the choice by 10 air site visitors controllers to name out sick quickly shut down journey at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and brought about delays at different main hubs in New Jersey, Philadelphia and Atlanta, driving President Donald Trump to conform to a short lived authorities funding measure.

A CNN evaluation discovered that experiences of staffing issues at FAA amenities have greater than quadrupled in comparison with the identical interval a yr in the past, elevating broad concern over the fast-approaching Thanksgiving vacation.

Geoff Freeman, the CEO of the US Travel Association who additionally attended the assembly, instructed CNN in a press release: “Sixty percent of Americans are already reconsidering their travel plans during the shutdown. It is costing the travel industry $1 billion a week in economic damage and that is before we get to the most important travel week of the year.”

Despite the problems that have been raised on Thursday, Vance maintained the administration’s place that the one method out of this was for Democrats to go a clear spending invoice to reopen the federal government.

Freeman, in addition to O’Brien and Kirby, have all now joined Republicans in calling for Congress to go the short-term funding measure.

“Congress should pass a clean continuing resolution now,” Freeman instructed CNN.

Vance reiterated that time when addressing reporters after the assembly, acknowledging that the important thing subject Democrats have fought with the GOP over — healthcare subsidies expiring — are legitimate, however that these negotiations wouldn’t occur “at the barrel of a gun.”

“The Democrats response to that is, give us everything we want, or we’re going to shut down the government and keep it shut down. That is not reasonable behavior,” Vance stated.

Vance added that Republicans “can’t reward” Democrats for utilizing the shutdown as a negotiating instrument, as a result of if it really works, they may proceed to make use of it — some extent the officers stated he additionally made through the roundtable.

“That’s how a child behaves. That is not how a responsible governing party behaves in the United States of America,” Vance stated.

A White House official instructed CNN Thursday they don’t have any intention or want to satisfy with Democrats till the federal government is reopened.

“We’ll see if things change,” the official stated. “Nothing to meet about right now though.”

The full checklist of attendees on the White House roundtable on Thursday: