Orcas Airport to Be Affected by Partial FAA Shutdown

From the Port of Orcas

Managers at Airport District Offices are only expected to be in their respective offices for a short time on Monday morning.

Time is quickly running out for Congress to pass a short-term extension in order to avoid a partial shutdown of the FAA. Unless Congress unexpectedly acts soon, the agency will be forced to furlough 4,000 employees and delay grants for airport construction projects when the current extension expires at midnight.

Earlier this week, the House passed H.R. 2553, a bill that would extend aviation programs and excise taxes through September 16. But the Senate is not expected to approve the legislation in its current form because it includes controversial provisions that would eliminate Essential Air Service to more than a dozen communities.

On Tuesday, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, IV (D-WV) introduced a short-term extension (S. 1387) that excludes the proposed EAS cuts. Unlike the House bill, the Senate plan includes the full $3.515 billion in AIP contract authority — the same amount that Congress approved for AIP in the FY11 appropriations process.

Commerce Committee Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) cosponsored the Senate bill. However, since all revenue bills must originate in the House, S. 1387 is more of a symbolic measure than a bill that could actually be enacted into law.

AAAE sent a letterto lawmakers this week urging them to pass a short-term extension before the current measure expires at midnight.

However, the Senate this afternoon rejected efforts to pass a short-term FAA extension. Since Congress was unable to send an extension to the President’s desk before the current measure expires at midnight, the FAA will be forced to furlough 4,000 employees and delay grants for airport construction projects.

The House had already adjourned for the day. But the bottom line is that the stalemate over a short-term FAA extension and a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill continues. Lawmakers’ inability to pass a short-term extension this week means that there will be a partial shutdown of the FAA, and grants for critical airport safety and capacity projects will continue to be delayed.

FAA Prepares for Partial Shutdown

Since Congress has not passed a short-term FAA extension and the current extension expires at midnight, the FAA’s Office of Airports is preparing for a partial shutdown.

In a conference call with aviation stakeholders today, Kate Lang informed participants that only essential FAA personnel will be working during the partial shutdown. That means all regional offices will be closed and only essential safety personnel will be working. Managers at Airport District Offices are only expected to be in their respective offices for a short time on Monday morning.

Kate, Christa Fornarotto and one other person will be allowed to work in the Airports Washington office on Monday. They will be available to deal with any emergency situations that may arise during the partial shutdown. However, Kate stressed that airports should contact their field offices immediately if they have anything that is imminent.

Kate pointed out that the FAA’s Office of Airports stopped processing all grants yesterday. She indicated that payments on existing grants will likely continue for those airports using ECHO, an auto-payment system. However, manual payments will not occur during the partial shutdown.

The FAA needs to close out the vast majority of AIP grants by September 24 – about a week before the end of the fiscal year. In an effort to try to maximize the amount of AIP funding that is obligated in this fiscal year, the FAA sent a notice to the Federal Register. The notice, which has yet to be published, will inform airport sponsors that they will have until August 12 to notify the FAA about whether they intend to use their FY11 entitlements or carry over those funds.