Former air traffic controller unveils how to fix FAA flight reductions, airport disruptions

While air traffic operations and flights across the United States have been limited due to the ongoing government shutdown, a former air traffic controller shares a potential solution to return airports to normal operations.

“The mess that Secretary Duffy has left, unfortunately, is in a position where he’s relying on the people at the FAA — the same people who have created the mess over the last 30 years, in fact, the failed NextGen program, where billions of dollars have been spent, wasted and stolen money,” Michael Pierson said on “The Bottom Line” on Thursday.

He continued: “Secretary Duffy needs to get away from the deep state FAA bureaucrats who created this mess, and get some outside advice on how to really fix it. There are people who can do that. He certainly won’t find the answers and fish in the same well from which the deception and fraud came.”

Starting Friday, 40 of the busiest airports in the United States will see a 10% drop in flights after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it is forcing airlines to reduce flights due to pressure on air traffic controllers during the shutdown.

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The closure, the longest in US history, forced about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees to work without pay.

Since the lockdown began on October 1, tens of thousands of flights have been delayed due to widespread lack of air traffic control. Airlines say at least 3.2 million passengers have been affected by the staffing crisis, FOX Business previously reported.

Pearson said the pressure on air traffic controllers began during the Obama administration.

“DEI ideologues… decided that the color of the console was more important than the efficiency of the console,” he said. “This happened from 2011 to 2014. So the 3,000 to 3,500 air traffic controllers that we need, and have needed for over 10 years, are directly linked to the disastrous policy of the Obama administration.”

“This leads to burnout. You have 3,500 fewer traffic controllers, and some of the major facilities are understaffed, not all of them, but some are understaffed,” Pearson added. “But I know for a fact that monitors were working at some facilities six days a week, eight to ten hours a day.”

He said observers should not blame the current leadership for the shutdown, but rather the “deep roots” in the FAA, “all the way to the very top of the agency.”

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“The Trump administration has been a huge mess, and they’re going to have to talk to individuals and bring out the people who know how to fix it if they want to succeed,” Pearson explained. “I think they’re trying to do the right things. I don’t think they’re going in the right direction at this time, because again, they’re relying on the old people who created the problems.”

“A perfect example is someone told Duffy at a press conference four to five months ago that the system could be fixed within two years. That’s crazy. No one inside the industry, or even outside the industry, who knows the way the FAA works would believe that to be true.”

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FOX Business’ Pilar Arias contributed to this report.