News Staff posted on February 27, 2013 17:14
U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are skeptical that the sequester poses a major threat to air travel, even after the Federal Aviation Administration’s Administrator Michael Huerta appeared at a congressional hearing to lay out the reasons the Obama administration says it cannot blunt the impacts of the cuts.
Huetra said that there just is not enough wiggle room in the law’s requirements, adding that the FAA is still working with the goal to “minimize” the sequester cuts on the traveling public.
One approach to blunting the cuts being quietly discussed in the Capitol is whether legislation can be passed that halves the cuts by also raising some revenue. When asked, Huerta said he was unsure that halving the cuts would be sufficient, given the agency has planned on $600 million in cuts.
Members at the hearing were also attempting to ascertain precisely how many flights would be cut and where, with Huerta saying “it’s a little early to tell” how many flights will be canceled by airlines should sequestration take effect.