DOT & Sequestration

Source: www.dot.gov

Friday, February 22, 2013

 

It is my opinion only, (your humble Blog-o-sphere host) but doesn't it seem odd that if the sequester deadline is going to spell out Armageddon for our nation which will impact the entire world like air travel, would the house and senate have gone on break this month and would the POTUS have vacationed in Hawaii? I mean c'on! I think it means only one of 2 things why nobody is working overtime on this supposedly Sequester Cliff we're about to go over, again:

 

1) Our government officials could care less

2) It's not all 'that' for them to be concerned about, which begs the question, is this for real??

 

Outgoing Secretary Ray LaHood spoke to the press at today's White House press conference and what he basically told "we the people" is partially pasted below from the DOT site for how the sequester will affect air travel almost immediately........which if drivers who pick up or deliver freight to airports, could also be adversely affected:

Statement on Sequestration, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, 22 February 2013

On Sequestration and the Federal Aviation Administration

Sequestration will have a serious impact on the transportation services that are critical to the traveling public and the nation’s economy.

At DOT we will need to cut nearly a billion dollars, which will affect dozens of our programs. Over $600 million of those cuts will need to come from the Federal Aviation Administration – the agency that controls and manages our nation’s skies.

As a result of these cuts, the vast majority of the FAA’s nearly 47,000 employees will be furloughed for approximately one day per pay period until the end of the fiscal year and in some cases it could be as many as two days.

Today we are sharing more details with our unions and with industry so they can start planning for the serious impacts of sequestration.
Here is what these automatic cuts are going to mean for the traveling public:

• Safety is our top priority and we will only allow the amount of air traffic we can handle safely to take off and land – which means travelers should expect delays.
• Flights to major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco could experience delays of up to 90 minutes during peak hours because we will have fewer controllers on staff.
• Delays in those major airports will ripple across the country.
• Cuts to budgets mean preventative maintenance and quick repair of runway equipment might not be possible which could lead to more delays.

And once airlines see what the potential impacts of these furloughs will be, we expect that they will change their schedules and cancel flights.

We are beginning discussions with our unions to likely close over 100 air traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year – we’re talking about places like Boca Raton, Florida; Joplin, Missouri; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and San Marcos, Texas.
We are also beginning discussions with our unions to eliminate midnight shifts in over 60 towers across the country.

These closures will impact services for commercial, general aviation, and military aircraft.
This will delay travelers and delay the critical goods and services that communities around the country need.

These are harmful cuts with real world consequences that will cost jobs and hurt our economy.
The President has put forward a solution to avoid these cuts, and we need Congress to come together to work on a long-term, balanced solution to our deficit challenges.