Yep it's all coming to a grinding halt the FAA is being shutdown if they don't get this through congress. I certainly would not want to be be holding shares or currency if the USA defaults.
FAA shutdown would cost government $200 million a week
The government will lose about $200 million a week in airline-ticket taxes and $2.5 billion in airport-construction projects will halt if the Federal Aviation Administration is forced to shut down, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday.
By JOAN LOWY
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The government will lose about $200 million a week in airline-ticket taxes and $2.5 billion in airport-construction projects will halt if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is forced to shut down, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday.
A partial shutdown looks increasingly likely because Congress hasn't been able to come to an agreement on legislation to extend the FAA's operating authority, which expires at midnight Friday.
The main obstacle is a provision sought by House Republicans and the airline industry that would make it more difficult for airline and railroad workers to unionize. The provision was added to a long-term FAA funding bill this year, but negotiations on that bill have stalled. Without long-term legislation, an extension bill is necessary to keep the agency operating.
If FAA authority were to expire, airlines would no longer have authority to collect federal ticket taxes. About 4,000 FAA workers whose jobs are funded with ticket-tax revenues will also be furloughed, LaHood said at a news conference.
Air traffic controllers, however, would remain on the job and safety would be maintained, he said. Overall, the FAA has more than 47,000 workers.
"This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world," LaHood said. "Congress needs to do its work."
He declined to answer questions about the possible consequences of a prolonged shutdown. But Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the FAA, said the agency "estimates that it could only operate air traffic and support services through mid-August."
The situation could be a financial boon for airline passengers. Barring an agreement, the taxes will disappear from airline and ticket-selling websites at midnight Friday.
The federal tax on a $300 round-trip airfare is about $61, according to the Air Transport Association. Airlines would still collect airport fees.
"The airlines have been alerted to the potential to need to make this change, and are working on it," Jean Medina, a spokeswoman for the association, said in an email.
Long-term authority for the FAA expired in 2007. Unable to agree on long-term funding legislation for the agency, Congress has kept the FAA operating through a series of 20 short-term extension bills.
Previous extensions have been routine. But this time House Republicans added a provision to what would be the 21st extension bill that eliminates government subsidies for airline service to 13 rural communities. Senate Democrats say the provision, which would save about $16 million, is unacceptable.