NATCA STATEMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL PASSAGE OF FAA FURLOUGH BILL – (4/26/2013)

After just one week of furloughs, it is abundantly clear that a fully staffed air traffic control workforce is necessary for our national airspace system to operate at full capacity. The nation’s air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals take great pride in their work and want nothing more than to be in their towers and radar facilities, working each and every flight. Thanks to the action taken this week in Congress, they will be able to return to work full time. We applaud the bipartisan nature of the votes and look forward to working closely with the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure the newly granted flexibility is exercised in a way that maintains our national airspace system’s status as the safest and most efficient in the world.