FAA To Close 149 Air Traffic Towers Because Of Budget Cuts

CHICAGO — Under orders to trim hundreds of millions of dollars from its budget, the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday released a final list of 149 air traffic control towers that it will close at small airports around the country starting early next month.

The closures will not force any of those airports to shut down, but pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency with no help from ground controllers. Those procedures are familiar to all pilots.

Senate Passes FAA Bill With Anti-Union Measure

WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a Federal Aviation Administration bill on Monday that includes an anti-union measure bitterly opposed by labor groups.

The bill, which modernizes America's air traffic control system and funds the FAA through 2014, was fought over for four years, leading to a partial shutdown of the FAA last summer because of anti-union measures added by the Republican-controlled House.

It passed 75 to 20, with a majority of Democrats backing it.

Among the controversial provisions were changes to labor law for rail and airline workers -- backed by the airline industry -- that would count anyone who did not vote in an election for a union as voting against it, making it much more difficult to certify attempts to organize new unions.

That measure was stripped in a conference committee to work out differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill, only to be replaced by another that raises the threshold for seeking a union from requiring 35 percent of workers' signatures to requiring half.

Unions mounted a last minute push against the measure Monday, including sending out a letter signed by 19 labor groups hammering Democrats for giving into the House.

FAA Funding Hinges On Partisan Fight Over Unions

WASHINGTON -- The clock is ticking for Congress to come up with a way to prevent another embarrassing shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Lawmakers have more than a month to go until funding runs out for the FAA. But with Congress only in session for one week of that month, and with lawmakers no closer to overcoming the same political disputes that partially closed the agency in July and left tens of thousands without paychecks, some Hill aides are starting to get nervous about the prospect of another shutdown.

"The FAA is going to expire on Sept. 16. That's in four weeks. The next three weeks are vacation," said a senior Democratic aide close to FAA negotiations. "We definitely have a problem."