Senator Collins Calls On Transportation Secretary To Work To Avoid Air Traffic Control Furloughs
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a letter today to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Senator Susan Collins expressed serious concerns that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration did not disclose pertinent information about sequestration and its impacts on the traveling public when he testified before the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee last week.
In addition, Senator Collins, who is the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, urged
Secretary LaHood to work to avoid furloughing air traffic controllers and, instead, work to find appropriation resources within the FAA’s budget to help keep them on the job.
“I believe that this is a manufactured crisis. There are many options that the FAA itself, and the DOT as a whole, has to avoid a disastrous impact on the traveling public. For example, the FAA administers the Airport Improvement Program which historically redistributes unspent funds. With legislative authority from Congress, this money could, instead, be used to offset cost of furloughing Air Traffic Controllers and other essential FAA employees,” said Senator Collins.
On Thursday, April 18th, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta testified at a budget oversight hearing before the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee yet made no mention that, later that day, FAA would begin furloughing air traffic controllers at a rate of nearly ten percent of its workforce. This is expected to cause widespread flight delays.
Full text of Senator Collins’ letter to Secretary LaHood is as follows:
Dear Secretary LaHood:
I write to express my strong concerns with the FAA’s recent announcement regarding sequestration and the impacts on the traveling public just hours after the completion of Administrator Huerta’s testimony before the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. I have shared similar concerns directly with Administrator Huerta regarding his complete lack of communication at our ppropriations budget oversight hearing. You can imagine my frustration when, immediately following the hearing, Administrator Huerta released details to the press on the anticipated flight delays when he did not provide this information to the subcommittee during our discussion of furloughs.
Congress has continuously asked for information on how these reductions would be implemented, and Mr. Huerta clearly had that information as his subsequent press statements demonstrated. His silence was truly misleading. The hearing offered him the ability to share with Congress data that were readily available to the FAA and to work with Congress to identify alternatives to disrupting our air transportation system.
The furloughing of air traffic controllers has already begun and is causing major widespread delays throughout the country. Along with many other Members of Congress, I am working on legislation to resolve this matter, and I hope the Department is also vigorously pursuing the many alternatives to these onerous furloughs.
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