US airspace faces restrictions as government shutdown enters its 36th day

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Days after warning of possible US airspace closures, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday announced new flight restrictions as the government shutdown reached a record 36 days, amid mounting safety concerns and severe staffing shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Fox Business reported.

Duffy said new airspace restrictions will take effect on Friday, including a 10 per cent reduction in flight capacity across 40 locations, which will impact approximately 4,000 flights nationwide.

“One of them, though, is going to be that there is going to be a 10 per cent reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations,” Duffy said, as quoted by Fox Business. The full list of affected airports will be released on Thursday.

The shutdown, which began on October 1,