While it's expected to have little impact on commercial or general aviation flights this weekend, the US Congress has failed to overcome disagreements about aspects of the most recent attempt at an FAA Reauthorization Bill. As of midnight EST tonight, the FAA will need to cease all non-essential operations, resulting in the layoff of nearly 4,000 FAA employees. ATC services will not be affected and those employees will remain at their consoles, safely guiding planes to their destinations.
Beyond the layoff of FAA employees, the FAA Airport Improvement Program grant payments will also come to a halt. This will result in the stoppage of hundreds of construction projects that are reliant on nearly $2.5 billion in grant funding. As a result, over 86,000 construction workers will also be without a job as their worksites are brought to a standstill.
In a press release, Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood stated, 'I’m very disappointed that Congress adjourned today without passing a clean extension of the FAA bill. Because of their inaction, states and airports won’t be able to work on their construction projects, and too many people will have to go without a paycheck. This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world.'
The FAA highlighted some of the grants that will be effected by the closure in its press release.
- Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida is still waiting on funding to rehabilitate a major taxiway
- St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida is still waiting on funding to rehabilitate Runway 04/22
- Cambridge Municipal Airport in Cambridge, Ohio is still waiting on funding to acquire snow removal equipment and conduct a survey to develop an instrument approach procedure
- Houghton County Memorial Airport in Hancock, Michigan is still waiting on funding to modify their terminal building and discourage wildlife from entering the active airfield
- Richmond International Airport in Richmond, Virginia is still waiting on funding to proceed with construction of a new apron for terminal concourse A
- Henderson City-County Airport in Henderson, Kentucky is still waiting on funding to rehabilitate Runway 09/27
- Clovis Municipal Airport in Clovis, New Mexico is still waiting on funding to relocate the localizer equipment due to a runway extension construction. This equipment is out of service on the main runway until the project can proceed
- Lubbock International Airport in Lubbock, Texas is still waiting on funding to begin the third phase of a critical runway rehabilitation
- Adams Field in Little Rock, Arkansas is still waiting on funding to begin the rehabilitation of taxiway lighting, construction of a Runway Safety Area, and the installation of Precision Approach Path Indicator
The failure to pass the bill will even be felt at EAA's Airventure in Oshkosh next week, as the FAA had a significant presence with over 100 specialists scheduled to be on hand to answer questions, hold seminars and interact with the public. There were three scheduled forum's being presented by the FAA during the event as well that will possibly be canceled. During the last threatened closure of the FAA, the FAA Safety Team, FAASTeam, stated they believe they'd be allowed to continue operations as some of their seminars are not funded by the FAA, but by funded by sponsors. It's unclear as to how the FAA's presence at EAA is setup and are awaiting clarification from the EAA.
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