Some Passengers Waited More Than An Hour In The Northeast Corridor Sunday

The delays predicted by President Obama, Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood, and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta became a reality Sunday, as planes stacked up at airports and passengers stewed at their gates and on aircraft.

The delays began almost immediately after the furloughs went into effect. New York's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports reported delays of more than an hour, with similar delays reported out of Philadelphia. Both cities said that it was due to the furloughs. Los Angeles International said its delays were closer to two hours.

The Associated Press reports that by Monday in some areas, it had gotten worse, with delays of more than two hours being common. The FAA placed ground stops on many flights along the east coast, saying there were not enough people to keep up with the traffic in some of its busiest corridors.

As an example, a US Airways shuttle scheduled for departure from Reagan National Airport at 0800 EDT Monday pushed back six minutes early, but did not depart until 0958 am, according to the AP.

But The Atlantic Wire reported Monday that the delays were confined to areas where there was normally heavy traffic. FlightAware listed only four airports experiencing considerable delays, and three of those were located in New York City, where two-hour delays are not uncommon. Los Angeles International was the fourth airport seeing slow traffic, but in most of the rest of the country, it appeared to be business as usual.

The furloughs are planned through September, and the FAA says they will account for some $200 million of the $637 million it must cut under the sequester. The overall FAA budget is $16 billion.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov