After Air Travel Chaos, Faa Shuts Down — Again

The Federal Aviation Administration is shut down — less than three months after the last spending interruption prompted an air travel nightmare for American flyers.

This time, the appropriations lapse could be short-lived and contained to a weekend, meaning serious disruption is unlikely at the FAA.

But yet another shutdown, so soon after weeks of frustration for travelers this past fall, prompted concern — even before it began — from the airline industry and the union that represents air traffic controllers, who continue to work without pay during funding stalemates.

Capitol Hill, too, seems to be aware of the looming risk to the aviation system, which has long grappled with a shortage of controllers, aging equipment and is now in the spotlight after federal accident investigators on Tuesday placed much of the blame on the FAA for last year’s fatal air crash in Washington.

“I am concerned about the impact on the Department of Transportation,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said earlier this week.

Added Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado: “Let’s hope it’s a very short shutdown.”

Funding for the FAA, and the rest of DOT, is part of a sprawling spending package, H.R. 7148, that the Senate passed Friday, 71-29. But because the upper chamber tweaked the measure that the House originally OK’d last week, it now heads back to the House — which is out of town and not expected to return until Monday.

That means a partial shutdown began Saturday morning, including at the FAA. It may be brief; President Donald Trump supports the package.

The record-breaking, 43-day funding lapse last year led to a spate of controller absences, and more than a month into the shutdown the FAA imposed dramatic, mandatory flight cuts at 40 busy airports as it sought to alleviate pressure on its workforce. The restrictions were later lifted. But airline cancellations became one of the most visible signs of Congress’ extended deadlock.

In a statement earlier this week, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union said that repeated spending lapses, and the threat of them, places “unnecessary strain” on the FAA’s essential workers — as well as the entire aviation system.

With the FAA shuttered, controllers are set to miss part of their paycheck on Feb. 17, and they would receive $0 on March 3, according to NATCA. That suggests any impacts to staffing levels might occur well into the future and not in the short term.

Airlines for America, the trade group that represents major U.S. carriers, in a statement before Friday’s Senate action urged Congress to “protect” the FAA, noting that the last shutdown “negatively impacted more than 6 million passengers and had an economic impact of $7 billion.”

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), chair of the Senate’s aviation subcommittee, prior to the vote said he’s “absolutely” worried about the issue.

And Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said earlier this week, following a major winter storm, “I just spent all day in an airport yesterday trying to get here, and I live closer than anybody,” adding, “It’s a tough time of the year to be having even more disruptions — and there’s no good time, but this is definitely not a good time.”

In the wake of last fall’s chaos, the House Transportation Committee approved a bill, H.R. 6086, that would allow the FAA to continue paying controllers during shutdowns. (Moran had introduced similar legislation in the Senate well before that, S. 1045.)

The effort, though, has stalled. POLITICO previously found that key appropriators weren’t thrilled with the concept.

But Moran suggested Thursday that the issue simply isn’t top of mind for Congress.

“People thought the shutdown was ... two months ago and not now,” he said, adding that he will continue to push for the legislation.

A4A, the airlines group, in its statement called on lawmakers to pass these bills.

Ahead of the vote Friday, Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee’s ranking member, submitted an amendment to the appropriations package that would attach their bipartisan ROTOR Act, a bill that aims to address various issues tied to the Washington air disaster, which killed 67 people. But it didn’t receive a floor vote.

The upper chamber OK’d the ROTOR Act unanimously in December, but it now faces opposition from House Transportation Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.), an avid pilot who’s concerned about impacts to general aviation.

Pavan Acharya contributed to this report.