Says amendment to Continuing Resolution would ensure airline passengers and shippers not negatively impacted

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, expressed strong support for an amendment offered by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) to provide federal agencies the flexibility to determine which employees are essential personnel, and minimize the impact to services essential to air travel as they implement budget cuts required from sequestration.

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The departments of Transportation and Homeland Security have projected that cuts and expected furloughs at Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would negatively impact air travel.

"A4A expects and urges federal agencies, including CBP, TSA and the FAA to minimize sequestration's impact on airlines and our customers, and we strongly support Sen. Blunt's amendment, which provides additional flexibility for federal officials to effectively manage and maintain essential public services, while meeting the requirements of the sequester," said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. "We thank Sen. Blunt for his leadership, and encourage his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass this amendment, which will help ensure that the 2 million customers and 50,000 tons of cargo that fly every day are not negatively impacted."

Calio noted the FAA employed a similar model of identifying essential personnel during a two-week shutdown in 2011, following a funding impasse. During that time, no flights were delayed or canceled due to the FAA shutdown.

ABOUT A4A

Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and more than 10 million U.S. jobs. A4A airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesdotorg.

SOURCE Airlines for America