Airline Groups File Motion to Stop FAA Air Traffic Controller Furloughs
Airline trade groups are seeking help from the judicial system to stop planned furloughs of air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration. The groups filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit that says the court should "vacate the capacity reduction plan and remand to the agencies with instructions to instead reasonably and responsibly exercise their statutory discretion, consistent with the public interest, in accordance with the law." Airlines for America (A4A), the Regional Airlines Association and the Air Line Pilots Association made the filing together. The FAA misread the Budget Control Act, also known as sequestration, when the FAA said the law removed the agency's discretion in making cuts, the groups said.
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“Air traffic controllers have never been furloughed, regardless of any budget cuts, and there is a reason for that—they are critical to maintain the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System,” A4A President Nick Calio said (here). “We continue to believe that the FAA has other means to reach a 10 percent budget reduction than to impact the traveling public. When a company needs to make a 10 percent budget reduction, the answer is not to make it is so inefficient that no one wants to do business with it anymore. That’s essentially what the FAA is proposing, and in doing so harming the 2 million passengers and shippers that fund two-thirds of its budget.”
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the motion.