FAA to shut down friday 22?????

akwing said:

Just because most federal employees are trying to do their job and get by doesn't mean their job is actually important, or that their job even needs to exist. Just means they can't get hired anywhere else.

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Hoonahcub said:

The sad part of the situation is, even if all those Government employees get fuloughed for say 60 days, when the budget gets passed they will still get all their back pay, accrued vaction days, etc. So a nice paid vacation, compliments of Mr and Mrs. taxpayer.

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some airlines quietly began raising fares — on average, roughly by the same amount as the federal taxes. Others did the same over the weekend, and most of the rest joined in on Monday. Story: More airlines raise fares to grab tax savings Alaska Airlines and the discount carrier Spirit Airlines were among the few holdouts, said Rick Seaney, the chief executive of FareCompare.com, which monitors airline fares. In a statement, Spirit Airlines took the opportunity to chide its competitors.

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FAA shutdown to continue as Congress leaves

By JOAN LOWY
WASHINGTON
A partisan stalemate that has partially shut down the Federal Aviation Administration will continue into September, stopping airport construction projects and depriving federal coffers of potentially more than $1 billion in uncollected ticket taxes, after congressional attempts to reach deal fell through on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., initially told reporters that he would be willing to accept a House Republican bill to restore the FAA's operating authority even though it contained cuts in subsidies for rural air service that some Democrats oppose. But he later reversed course after a possible deal with House Republicans had fallen through.
The Senate was due to leave for its August recess Tuesday. The House left Monday.
"Republicans are playing reckless games with airline safety," Reid said in a statement. "We should not let ideology interfere with making sure that Americans' air travel runs as smoothly and safely as possible."
The FAA's operating authority expired on July 23, as well as the authority of airlines to collect about $30 million a day in ticket taxes, meaning the government will be unable to collect an estimated $1.2 billion in taxes if the shutdown continues until lawmakers return to work next month.
Nearly 4,000 FAA employees have been laid off and stop work orders issues for more than 200 construction projects. Air traffic controllers have remained on the job, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has vowed that safety won't be compromised and travelers won't be inconvenienced
Republicans blame Democrats for the shutdown, saying they have been unwilling to accept minor cuts to a rural air services program long criticized as wasteful. But Democrats said the air services cuts were being used as leverage to force them to give in to the House on a labor provision in a separate, long-term FAA funding bill that would make it more difficult for airline workers to unionize.
President Barack Obama implored Congress to settle the dispute before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess, calling the stalemate "another Washington-inflicted wound on America."
LaHood, a former GOP congressman, conveyed the same message in a series of private meetings on Capitol Hill and phone calls to lawmakers, but was unable to clinch a deal.
With House Republicans gone, the only way Senate Democrats could end the shutdown was to accept a previously-passed House bill that includes a provision eliminating $16.5 million in air service subsidies for 13 rural communities.
The extension bill was necessary because the FAA's long-term operating authority expired in 2007. Since then, Congress has been unable to agree on a long-term funding plan. The agency has continued to operate under a series of 20 short-term extensions.
The labor provision would overturn a National Mediation Board rule approved last year that allows airline and railroad employees to form a union by a simple majority of those voting. Under the old rule, workers who didn't vote were treated as "no" votes.
Republicans complain that the new rule reverses 75 years of precedent to favor labor unions. Democrats and union officials say the change puts airline and railroad elections under the same democratic rules required for unionizing all other companies.
The White House warned in March that Obama would veto an FAA bill containing the labor provision.

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"It really is scary," said Michael MacDonald, a 54-year-old Federal Aviation Administration engineer who lives outside of Boston. "For one week, you think OK, we can handle one week. But now the reality is starting to set in --- this is going to take six weeks or more."

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AK-HUNT said:

Maybe I won't get ramped at moose camp with their (contracted) bell 206 this year either

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.....officials noticed a $2 trillion error in S&P's math that delayed an.....

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Congress decided to make the taxes retroactive to when the FAA shut down July 23. If you were hoping to get some money back, it's not happening.
Tax collection doesn't have to begin again until the end of the day Monday, so buying tickets over the next few days will be a tricky process.

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