Make New York Post a Preferred Source Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg jumped at the opportunity to slam the nationwide ground stop Friday while he was stranded in Denver – despite being in charge when it last happened three years ago.
Buttigieg was among Democrats attending the “What’s Next” conference in Colorado to game out the party’s 2028 presidential chances.
The 2020 presidential candidate – and potential 2028 contender – made a dig at the Federal Aviation Administration ground stop during public remarks at an event Friday night.
Former US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg chimed in about the FAA ground stop. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock “I’ll begin with a public service announcement: I will be available in the hotel bar following the concert for anybody who needs to rebook their flights, or get a refund per your rights,” Buttigieg quipped.
He later told reporters he was watching things unfold “as a member of the traveling public who has a flight tomorrow.”
Asked his impressions of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s press conference addressing the issue by the New York Times, Buttigieg said: “You can just write down the comic book asterisk swearing characters.”
Passengers wait in the airport waiting area while some aircraft remain grounded, at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on November 13, 2026. CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA/Shutterstock “I have questions,” he added.
The feds later lifted the nationwide ground stop and Duffy asked for $50 billion in additional funding to upgrade aging air traffic control and communications systems.
Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel called out Buttigieg online, slamming: “No one’s hands are clean here. However, Mr. Secretary Buttigieg, you had four years in the job and infrastructure money, yet made zero progress modernizing the FAA. You left a failing system in place.”
Buttigieg defended his own transportation tenure during the Biden administration, insisting: “We did a lot to upgrade the system. When we had an outage, I didn’t stand there complaining about the Trump administration. We got to work.”
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