SCHUMER SHUTDOWN UPDATE: U.S. will reduce airline traffic by 10% at 40 locations beginning Friday due to shutdown.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the federal government would reduce airline traffic by 10% at 40 locations beginning on Friday if the shutdown continues. The reductions are aimed at reducing the stress on air traffic controllers who have continued to work without pay.

“We’ve identified 40 high-traffic-environment markets,” Bedford said, adding that the list would be released later. “We have decided that a 10% reduction in scheduled capacity would be appropriate to continue to take the pressure off of our controllers. And as we continue to see staffing triggers, there will be additional measures that will be taken in those specific markets.”

Bedford said the reductions are being driven by “issues of fatigue that our flight controllers are experiencing,” as evidenced by “voluntary safety disclosure reports coming in from commercial air transport pilots.” Those reports have allowed regulators to focus on throttling traffic on specific markets, and not the country as a whole, Bedford said.

For now, that is.