Air Traffic Controllers being Furloughed

Some air traffic controllers will be furloughed on Sunday as a result of sequestration. Saw on the news that there can be significant delays in the major airports. For instance, two or three hour delays in Atlanta.

Some air traffic controllers will be furloughed on Sunday as a result of sequestration. Saw on the news that there can be significant delays in the major airports. For instance, two or three hour delays in Atlanta.

Reason #1743 to fly the day (or two) before.

This thread will go the same way as others... Blame the people doing the job, as opposed to those that can't !

Controllers and Customs Agents work under very restrictive rules - determined by the gov't they work for.

Everyone has a vote.

This thread will go the same way as others... Blame the people doing the job, as opposed to those that can't !

Controllers and Customs Agents work under very restrictive rules - determined by the gov't they work for.

Everyone has a vote.

How right you are!!!

And if anyone is seeing shortages of food-specifically imported produce, fish, meat and cheeses, that is ANOTHER result of our stupid government that can't govern. Nogales, AZ-one of the main trans-shipping points into the US for produce, is down three inspectors, Mexican trucks are being turned away from inspections, produce is getting old sitting in Mexico waiting for inspections so they can get unloaded on the Arizona side of Nogales and stores are hurting for the specialty produce that Mexico produces this time of year. Red and yellow peppers and asparagus are in particularly short supply.

I feel so sorry for the Customs people and Customs brokers in the Port of Long Beach. They have every food broker, food distribution company, grocery store chain and transportation company calling them nonstop. I have NINE containers-3 NZ lamb, 2 shrimp, 2 Australian hamburger and 2 imitation crab and lobster STUCK in the port of Long Beach due to lack of Customs/USDA agents being able to do timely inspections.

The little company who makes absolutely spectacular Asian TV type dinners in California is almost out of business because they need their imitation crab and lobster. We just loaded some in one of my trucks on a rush order out of cold storage in NJ. They had to buy product from a third party, they had to pay through the nose to the product owner and we are charging them full truckload rate for expedited service to get it to LA area so they don't have to shut down their production lines. A HUGE additional expense for a small company.

Don't even get me going about the incompetence in our government. But more than anything, why can't they make a simple budget? Not only are they putting government workers on furlough but the unintended consequences could put a LOT of people in the unemployment line.

I'm off my soapbox!!!

Controllers and Customs Agents work under very restrictive rules - determined by the gov't they work for.

Everyone has a vote.

How right you are!!!

 

 

Don't even get me going about the incompetence in our government.

Didn't want to.... But ?? :)

There is only one job that any member of Congress is interested in: Getting re-elected! And part of that job is to refill the election campaign fund. And interestingly, any money left in that fund when a congressman leaves office, is his (or hers to be pc). That is why we need term limits! I'm off the soapbox now.

The bigger the soapboxes are the better :D

How about for every customs, TSA or FAA worker furloughed, one congressman from each state gets furloughed as well?

Unfortunately, we, the people, would never notice if 98% of congress were furloughed. Now if we had a Parliament things might get done. :)

So far sequestration has not been the disaster that was predicted by some.

So far sequestration has not been the disaster that was predicted by some.

That is because all government employees (mostly UNION employees) had to be given THIRTY days notice BEFORE any furloughs or job cuts could begin. That time attached about the first of April. And the cuts are rolling in NOW.

Take a good look at some of the SMALL companies that contract to the military. Two that I am intimately familiar with have been told NOT TO SHIP their products. So what do they do with their workforce that is geared primarily to making products for the military? Lay them off is what!!!

Even my own company has been told not to "perform" certain inspections for food provisions going overseas or in overseas environments. I am supposed to leave for Iraq to make one final swing to make sure what we left in Iraq has gotten distributed where it was supposed to and that remaining State Dept, DOD and USAID personnel have what they need on a continuing basis. I have NOT received clearance yet to do this and I am supposed to have this project done by no later than the end of May. Thank goodness, in my company, it really impacts few (me primarily because I don't get to go and contribute).

But the little company I posted about with the fantastic Asian TV type dinners-their outbound shipments this week were down to 8 pallets of food. Their normal shipments on Thursdays/Fridays generally consist of about 80-90 pallets. So their production is essentially STOPPED because they are lacking ingredients to make their product. And they sent workers home WITHOUT pay on Thursday.

And my trucks were down 47 pallets yesterday, all going to the East Coast. That is TWO semi loads of food that is NOT shipped and drivers who are NOT working doing what they normally do at the rate they normally get. I had all my West Coast drivers draw straws Thursday when I found out there was a BIG problem. The two short straws will have VERY small paychecks compared to what they normally get. Unintended consequences. And I truly believe it is only going to get worse.

So far sequestration has not been the disaster that was predicted by some.

That's because it has yet to be fully implemented. The effects will start to hit at different times as not all government agencies have figured out how many furlough days there will be. Once that is decided there has to be a 30 day notice period of intended furloughs before they can be implemented. So you will see furloughs start to be implemented in waves throughout the summer.

This from a Senate hearing on Feb 14, 2013

"Asked if food inspectors could be exempted from sequestration, Werfel said it would be impossible because 88 percent of the Food Safety Inspections Service's budget goes toward salaries. He added that because food manufacturing plants cannot legally operate without inspection, many would be forced to temporarily shut down if the threat of sequestration becomes reality.

He also said the Federal Aviation Administration would need to issue furloughs for nearly all of its 47,000 employees, including air traffic controllers."

Just goes to show that the powers that be KNEW in advance that at the least, the American public would be "inconvenienced". And they also KNEW there would be a lot of people that were NOT government employees out of work. How stupid can we be???

This from a Senate hearing on Feb 14, 2013

 

"Asked if food inspectors could be exempted from sequestration, Werfel said it would be impossible because 88 percent of the Food Safety Inspections Service's budget goes toward salaries. He added that because food manufacturing plants cannot legally operate without inspection, many would be forced to temporarily shut down if the threat of sequestration becomes reality.

 

He also said the Federal Aviation Administration would need to issue furloughs for nearly all of its 47,000 employees, including air traffic controllers."

 

Just goes to show that the powers that be KNEW in advance that at the least, the American public would be "inconvenienced". And they also KNEW there would be a lot of people that were NOT government employees out of work. How stupid can we be???

Apparently we (American people in general) can be pretty stupid. We keep re-electing the same politicians that continue to not do their jobs. Just saying. :mad:

That's because it has yet to be fully implemented. The effects will start to hit at different times as not all government agencies have figured out how many furlough days there will be. Once that is decided there has to be a 30 day notice period of intended furloughs before they can be implemented. So you will see furloughs start to be implemented in waves throughout the summer.

I have some friends that work for the Navy as civilians and at first they were told that starting in April that they would be furloughed one day a week until the end of September (end of Fiscal Year).

Then they were told it would be one day every two weeks. Now they tell me that it might be even less than that.

Certainly, this is not good for these workers. I suspect that a hiring freeze would be more effective since the Federal Government has expanded significantly these past four years.

My point was that while it may affect some people such as my friends and others that have contracts with the DoD, but it has not been a disaster and not likely to be so.

I have some friends that work for the Navy as civilians and at first they were told that starting in April that they would be furloughed one day a week until the end of September (end of Fiscal Year).

Then they were told it would be one day every two weeks. Now they tell me that it might be even less than that.

 

Certainly, this is not good for these workers. I suspect that a hiring freeze would be more effective since the Federal Government has expanded significantly these past four years.

 

My point was that while it may affect some people such as my friends and others that have contracts with the DoD, but it has not been a disaster and not likely to be so.

I am a Navy civillian employee. As the Navy has not figured out how many days will be furloughed we still don't know. As soon as the Navy makes that determination and they announce it then there is a 30 day period before furloughs can take effect. We are also already under a hiring freeze and have not received any COLA in the last few years.

Will it be a disaster? There is no way to tell yet and even if it is not a disaster for you it may be for others. If you fly alot and the airlines have to cut back on flights due to air traffic controllers being furloughed or your flight is delayed due to furloughed controllers let us know how it effects you good or bad.

Friend of our is an Air Traffic Controller in a major city and all the controllers in that terminal are being forced to take one day off per week with no pay starting this Monday:(:(

Friend of our is an Air Traffic Controller in a major city and all the controllers in that terminal are being forced to take one day off per week with no pay starting this Monday:(:(

The FAA and the air traffic controllers are one of the first groups of government employees that will be affected. The DOD budget actually contained more funding than expected which has allowed for a delay in furlough of DOD employees.

 

My point was that while it may affect some people such as my friends and others that have contracts with the DoD, but it has not been a disaster and not likely to be so.

It could be very uncomfortable in regards to the food supply for ALL Americans.

If they cut many more Customs agents inspecting food products coming from overseas and across the border from Mexico (produce), your food supply could be impacted. And since EVERY US meat packing plant needs onsite USDA inspectors, when those cuts start rolling in, your fresh meat supply can be impacted. Fresh food chilled (NOT frozen or dry) will be severely impacted on two fronts-access to ingredients and lack of onsite inspectors. So all that yogurt and other dairy products, things like deli and anything FRESH in your grocers chilled sector may be in VERY short supply.

My point was that while it may affect some people such as my friends and others that have contracts with the DoD, but it has not been a disaster and not likely to be so.

My personal feeling is that it is too early to really know. But my gut feeling is that it probably will be more like the 3-hour tarmac rule, where quite a few regulars on this forum were predicting doomsday, that never happened. Hundreds/thousands of passengers were never stranded for days at a time in airports/cities because flights were canceled due to this rule and there were no seats available for days to accommodate them. But for the sequester, only time will tell.

I received the following e-mail from Jet Blue this PM:

f you’re planning to travel, or know family and friends who are traveling, we'd like to inform you how the recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sequestration may affect your plans. Due to FAA furloughs, airport and flight delays are possible. While specific details have not been provided, we’ll do everything we can to keep you updated about this matter. As always, our focus will be running a safe and efficient operation for our customers.

Recommendations for travelers:

• Allow for more time at security checkpoints
  
• Check your flight status at jetblue.com
  
• Download our mobile app to receive flight notifications
  
• Visit BlueTales for the latest information
  

We regret any inconvenience you may experience.

Thank you for flying JetBlue – we look forward to seeing you onboard.

For those who don't think the furlough's of air traffic controllers will have a negative impact here you go:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/furloughs_lead_to_major_flight.html#incart_river

Our company has just received notification from 3 airlines (AA, United, Delta) that containers for our refrigerated shipments MAY NOT be available as they normally are. IF they are available, they MAY NOT make it on the plane. We will now be required to WAIT until the plane takes off as the airlines will NOT be liable if the refrigeration units malfunction, don't get plugged in properly or they don't make it on the plane and just get moved around the tarmac.

This impacts a LOT of people. Flowers, cheeses, specialty foods (particularly ethnic specialty foods), wedding cakes and all kinds of other stuff we ship daily for event planners, hotels, conventions, weddings, bar/bat mitzvah and we have quite a few orders already for catered graduation and prom events in May may not make it. Some we can move by truck. But some cannot be moved by truck due to the highly perishable nature of the product and also the fragility (wedding cakes in particular).

We are wasting time today calling ALL shippers and receivers to notify them that not only may their shipment NOT fly when it is supposed to but they will now be paying $125-175 per hour additional while our trucks SIT at various airports WAITING to make sure the plane takes off. A REAL waste of everyone's time and money.

There may be a lot of disappointed brides and graduates as a lot of ethnic food available on the East Coast is NOT readily available on the West Coast or other areas of the country.

And flower shipments from South America are in real peril. The flowers (particularly roses) come in from South America generally via cargo plane. Then the packages are shipped to their ultimate destination via Fed Ex or very often via passenger plane as cargo in refrigerated containers. How many people besides just the end user do these delayed or non existent shipments effect? A LOT.

Sad, sad commentary on our government. And it is only going to get worse. They just pulled another inspector from the border in Nogales AZ. Some produce has been sitting there on the Mexican side since Sunday night waiting for clearance into the USA. Who wants to eat asparagus that was cut on Thursday/Friday last week and won't get delivered to a store until MAYBE Saturday/Sunday this week? Takes minimum 4 days for transit from Nogales to most of the food distributors on the East Coast. Then a day for them to get it into the stores. Produce on the East Coast is usually about 6 days old when you purchase it in the store and it originated in Mexico or California. Now it may be as much as 10 days old.

We just canceled all our produce shipments out of Nogales to the East Coast for the next two weeks. I would rather not get the big bucks for produce shipments right now than get to NYC and have the stuff rejected by the receiver because it is old and crapped out and then wait DAYS while everyone figures out what to do with it.

All these cuts are affecting a lot of people. And this morning, it was pointed out that the FAA was spending ONE BILLION on consultants, grants and travel. Don't you think it would be more productive to pay the air traffic controllers instead and get the country moving on schedule? Guess not

Driving to FLL in October for our Oasis cruise is sounding better and better - long drive, but fewer headaches. We're flying to California in June, so will have a better feel by then.

Unfortunately, the anger and frustration will be taken out on the wrong people - those who are losing 20% of their salary, and still expected to follow all the rules and regulations imposed on them and process the same amount of material or traffic etc. with less manpower.

People get pi$$d at the point of contact personnel, but don't bother to vote - or don't get informed as to the root causes, and vote intelligently.

My sympathy's (obviously) are for the professionals who are trying to keep things rolling.

As a side note - Now they're talking about charging Canadians a fee to cross the border (at land crossings) - obviously, to try to get some money to pay Border Agents. Grrr!!

BTW - snowshoecat - give us an update.