Statement Attributed to A4A’s President and CEO, Chris Sununu:

Today marks a disappointing milestone with the federal government shutdown hitting a record 36 days—the longest shutdown in our nation’s history—and there’s no end in sight. It is simply unacceptable that our air traffic controllers, TSA officers and CBP officers are working without pay or that the traveling public is having to stand in hours-long security lines and experience thousands of delayed or canceled flights.

Since the shutdown began, more than 3.4 million passengers have been impacted by delays and cancelations related to staffing shortages. Secretary Duffy has cautioned that the situation will only get worse as we get closer to Thanksgiving. Vice President Vance issued a stark warning that holiday travel could be a “disaster” for travelers unless the government reopens soon.

We are expecting to see a record-high number of travelers fly over the Thanksgiving holiday—31 million. U.S. airlines are adding 45,000 more seats each day to meet that historic demand, and we will continue to work with the FAA to identify solutions, implement workarounds and prevent massive gridlock, while ensuring that safety is not compromised.

The quickest and simplest way to reopen the government is for Congress to pass a clean resolution (CR) that pays our essential aviation safety and security personnel while they continue to work on a long-term funding agreement. We cannot live shutdown to shutdown, whether it be the millions of SNAP recipients, our dedicated service members or the federal employees on the frontlines of our nation’s aviation system. Keeping America open should be a patriotic duty, not a partisan divide on Capitol Hill.