The onslaught of flight delays and cancellations will cease and operations return to normal with a new bill passed by the House on Friday, April 26, reports the Wall Street Journal. The sudden air travel inconveniences resulted from furloughs imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The legislation gives the Department of Transportation more flexibility in applying mandated budget cuts, and awaits President Obama's approving signature.
The furloughs began on April 21st, 2013, when the FAA started requiring employees to take one unpaid day off every two weeks, cutting their workforce of air-traffic controllers by 10% each day. The move resulted in an instantaneous spike in cancellations and delays.
Public outrage over this recent air travel aggravation is palpable. United Continental Holdings Inc. estimates about 20,000 of its customers were affected by delays directly resulting from the furloughs, and according to USA Today, the flight tracking website FlightAware.com reported 273 cancellations and 4,749 flight delays as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, 2013, with air traffic hubs like Los Angeles and Dallas Ft. Worth experiencing up to 45 minute delays.
To ward off any possible economic backlash, both parties ushered through the bill, which according to The Huffington Post, will give Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood "flexibility to transfer certain funds to prevent reduced operations and staffing of the Federal Aviation Administration,” allowing the FAA to redirect as much as $253 million from its budget to shore up staffing and operations.
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