Skift Take
The congressional response to Hurricane Sandy demonstrated that congress couldn't give a rip about New York City, so to gain support proponents of compromise will need to focus on the hundreds of small cuts to airports around the country.
The U.S. air-traffic system will operate normally for at least a month before controller furloughs raised by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood would begin, assuming automatic budget cuts take place March 1.
Even if they take effect, some reductions will furlough employees at towers that haven’t lost controllers as quickly as the airports have lost flights. Most of the 72 towers that may close overnight have so little traffic at those periods the night shifts could be eliminated now under FAA guidelines, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Senior congressional Republicans, including Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, said the agency is exaggerating the impact on travelers and could trim its budget without uniform controller furloughs, noting domestic flights are down 27 percent since 2000.
“We are disappointed by the administration creating alarm about sequestration’s impact on aviation,” the e-mailed statement from Shuster, New Jersey Representative Frank LoBiondo and South Dakota Senator John Thune said. “Before jumping to the conclusion that furloughs must be implemented, the administration and the agency need to sharpen their pencils and con
