Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned on Sunday that holiday shopping could be affected by the government shutdown and the corresponding reduction of air traffic.
In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, the Treasury Department secretary addressed the wide-reaching economic consequences of the shutdown. He pointed to the reduced flight activity, which affects not only travelers, but also cargo shipments.
“And we’ve seen an impact on the economy from day one, but it’s getting worse and worse. We had a fantastic economy under President Trump the past two quarters. And now there are estimates that … economic growth for this quarter could be cut by as much as half, if the shutdown continues,” Bessent said.
Bessent pointed to the “human cost” of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) reduced flight schedule, noting, “We’re going to have the busiest travel day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving.”
“But on the other side, there’s also, cargo is being slowed down,” Bessent said. “So, you know, we could end up with shortages, whether it’s in our supply chain, whether it’s for the holidays.”
“Cargo and people are both being slowed down here. And that’s for safety’s sake, George,” he added.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford announced Wednesday that the agency was taking the extraordinary step of reducing flight capacity by 10 percent across 40 “high-traffic” areas in the country, amid staffing shortages and concerns about air safety.
Flight reductions began at 4 percent on Friday and were slated to increase to 6 percent by Nov. 11 and to 8 percent by Nov. 13, according to the Department of Transportation. By Nov. 14, there would be 10 percent fewer flights in U.S. airspace.
Source: The Hill