Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) staff furloughs caused by the sequestration budget cuts have caused flight delays in New York and Philadelphia, CNBC reports. Flights out of La Guardia and JFK airports in New York saw delays of up to an hour. The furloughs are slated to last through the end of the U.S. fiscal year in September.
"Relatively good weather throughout the country and light traffic helped minimize air traffic delays," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told CNBC.
On April 19, 2013, airline trade association Airlines for America (A4A) had filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to stop implementation of the furloughs, CNN reports. The Regional Airline Association and the Air Line Pilots Association also joined the motion. The airlines argued for a 30-day delay of the furlough in order to pursue a Congressional exemption for air controllers as “essential” employees.
In its projections, the FAA had reported that some airports could experience delays as long as three and a half hours. An airport-by-airport breakdown of projected delay times is available here.
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