Former NTSB chief says Sean Duffy 'not an aviation guy' as flight cancellations surge

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attends a press conference on the impact of the ongoing federal government shutdown on air travel, at LaGuardia Airport in the Queens borough of New York City, U.S., October 28, 2

Aviation Analyst Peter Goelz — who was managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) — gave floundering reviews to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s announcement of unprecedented flight reductions to “alleviate the pressure” on air traffic controllers.

Controllers have been working without compensation since the start of the shutdown and have not received a paycheck since mid-October. Many are already permanently walking off the job as they struggle to find new income to handle rent and other bills.

But Goelz could muster little praise for Duffy’s intervention by reducing the nation’s flight capacity during a Thursday interview on CNN.

“Secretary Duffy, you know, he's a good guy, but he's not an aviation guy. His service in Congress was not on the aviation committee. He's been doing the best he can,” said Goelz of the former MTV reality star. He added that Frontier CEO Barry Biffle’s complaint that you “can't run the national airspace like this” was “dead right.”

“Unfortunately, I mean, this is chaos out there,” said Goelz, who served as managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board under Clinton.

“Are you saying he doesn't have the experience to be in this position, in this moment?” asked CNN reporter Erica Hill.

“I would say he's learning on the job — and that's the best I can say,” said Goelz.

However, Goelz added that the massive issues facing U.S. airways is raising the question of privatization of the airspace, which is a major Republican objective.

“This has long been a goal of the conservative Republican side,” Goelz said. “They think the airspace should be privatized, should be run as a private entity with some government input. The pilots and the air traffic controllers have opposed that. This is underscoring, that debate, and I think we'll see it come up again in the in the future.”

Watch the segment below:

- YouTubeyoutu.be

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