Congress Looking for Quick Fix to Flight Delays

U.S. Senate leaders are frantically trying to pull together a plan to alleviate widespread airline flight delays brought about by last month’s automatic federal spending cuts, with legislation that could be voted upon as early as Thursday.

The activity is focused on finding ways to eliminate or ease forced furloughs of air traffic controllers prompted by the spending cuts. The House of Representatives could vote soon after but leaders in that chamber first want to see what the Senate produces, fearing a retreat on this issue could open the door to easing other budget cuts.

One option senators are exploring is attaching legislation to an unrelated online sales tax bill currently being debated, a Senate aide said on Thursday.

They are also looking at stand-alone legislation and are considering giving the Department of Transportation flexibility to transfer existing department funds so that air traffic controllers’ salaries can be fully paid and the periodic furloughs ended.

Another approach would be simply declaring controllers “essential” personnel who cannot be furloughed.

Lawmakers are eager to find a fix before they head out of town for next week’s congressional recess. They are concerned about deepening public resentment over the delays caused by the furloughs of controllers.

Airline passengers have grown increasingly irritated over the past week with delays at major hubs like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Some have reported delays of many hours in takeoff times and planes being put in holding patterns in the air, with many pilots blaming furloughs for landing delays.

This article appeared in print on page 3 of the April 26th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.