Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took to the White House briefing room today to urge Congress to reach a deal on the so called "sequester" (mandatory spending cuts that will go into effect on March 1st) and warned of its consequences.
One of the biggest ones is the $600 million that will have to be trimmed from the budget and means less air traffic controllers and less TSA at the security check points. Over 100 air traffic control towers will be closed and 60 towers will lose their overnight shift. There will also be a one day per two week furlough for ALL FAA employees until September.
Secretary LaHood said, "As a consequence of employee furloughs and prolonged equipment outages from lower parts inventories and fewer parts technicians, travelers should expect delays. Flight to major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco could experience delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours because we will have fewer controllers on staff.
We are aware that these service reductions will adversely affect commercial, corporate and general aviation operations. We also expect that as airlines estimate the potential impacts of these furloughs, they will change their schedule and cancel flights."
The delays could start as early as April 1st and will continue until September.
The full letter from Secretary LaHood and FAA Commissioner Michael Huerta to the airline industry is here.
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This is simply more "scare tactics" from this administration which proposed the sequester in the first place.
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