AviationFAA to end furloughs of air traffic controllers
On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a bill which would allow the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to end furloughs of its air traffic controllers. The legislation, known as the Reducing Flight Delays Act, was passed by a 361-41 vote. The passing of the bill comes just one day after the Senate approved the same measure by a unanimous vote.
On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a bill which would allow the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to end furloughs of its air traffic controllers. The legislation, known as the Reducing Flight Delays Act, was passed by a 361-41 vote. The passing of the bill comes just one day after the Senate approved the same measure by a unanimous vote.
The Hill reports that the bill make it possible for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use up to $253 million to can pay the salaries and expenses of air traffic controllers.
The bill applies only to fiscal 2013.
The Hill noes that the vote is a victory for House Republicans who have been fighting to restructure the $600 million sequester-mandated cut to the FAA to avoid air traffic controller layoffs.
Democrats searched for a broader solution, and opposed the bill because it only deals with the FAA, not with other social programs which are also being cut as a result of the sequester.
Mounting passenger complaints convinced Democrats to support the more limited, FAA-specific measure less than one week after the furloughs began as thousands of flights were delayed.
Representative Tom Latham (R-Iowa) spent Friday morning criticizing Democrats for rejecting the premise of reorganizing the cuts.
“I think we all agree the FAA and the administration has handled the sequester poorly,” Latham told reporters. “The FAA has negotiated in bad faith with the FAA employees, the airlines, the flying public and the Congress, and the administration has played shameful politics with sequestration at the cost of hard-working American families.
“We are taking this action to end the administration’s political games that threaten our passenger’s rights and their safety.”
Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, welcomed the bill, but stressed That the bill is “no more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails to address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequesters mindless, across-the-board cuts…. The president would sign this if it’s passed,” Carney added, moments before the House voted on the legislation. “This is causing unnecessary harm to travelers around the country.”
