Agency Budget Gap Of $700 Million Will Need To Be Closed

Once again, the specter FAA furloughs has appeared as lawmakers tell agencies to trim their budgets for 2014. For the FAA, that means that some $700 million needs to be cut from the budget, and agency officials say that would mean sending workers home without pay.

If that scenario plays out, the FAA says that flight delays similar to those that occurred as the sequester took hold in April are likely. The FAA was later allowed to shift money from another account to pay controllers and keep airlines on schedule.

But this new round of sequestration may have more impact, according to a report from Bloomberg. Both FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox have said in briefings that the agency has already cut unessential travel and training, according to sources who attended private meetings and requested anonymity.

The FAA is reportedly again considering eliminating contract towers as a way of saving money. And, FAA officials say they would have to furlough some employees even if a continuing resolution introduced September 10th in the House passes. That measure would maintain current funding levels through December 15.

Victoria Day, spokeswoman for A4A, said that the airline trade group believes that neither Congress nor the Obama administration will allow the airline industry to suffer the effects of sequestration as it did in April.

Other services which affect private pilots, such as weather briefings, are also potentially on the budget chopping block.

FMI: www.faa.gov