Reid Says FAA Shutdown Will Continue; Blames House, Delta Airlines

[progressoid]

Source: NPR

Reid Says FAA Shutdown Will Continue; Blames House, Delta Airlines

The Federal Aviation Administration has been in a partial shutdown mode since July 22. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the shutdown will continue, with some 4,000 federal workers remaining on furlough.

"It'll be closed until... maybe not September, maybe more than that," he tells All Things Considered co-host Michele Norris.


...

But Reid says the problem actually lies with one airline: Delta. "The House has tried to make this a battle over essential air service," he says. "It's not a battle over essential air service. It's a battle over Delta Airlines, who refuses to allow votes under the new rules that have been passed by the NLRB ."

The issue, Reid says, is Delta's "non-union" stance. The bill to fund the FAA, as crafted by House Republicans, includes language that sets new rules for aviation workers' votes on labor representation.

...

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/08/02/138936549/reid-says-faa-shutdown-will-continue-blames-house-delta-airlines

[Poll_Blind]

1. Good lord, that's messed up. It's a rolling collapse.

PB

[hedgehog]

2. GO REID! Call them out!

[SemperEadem]

3. I hate Delta airlines

[progressoid]

4. I didn't realize how bad they were.

Think Progress has a bunch more on this crap

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/07/28/282199/gop-shuts-down-faa-to-aid-deltas-anti-union-efforts-delta-collects-millions-in-extra-profits/

[Why Syzygy]

5. I always preferred Delta.

Didn't realize their stance on labor, though. Not nice.

[SemperEadem]

10. they're the airline that threw those two Muslim men off the plane

because another passenger complained that they were on the plane... instead of telling the passenger to either sit down and buckle up or get off the plane and buy another ticket if they're sooooooo scaredy.

[SoapBox]

6. Delta is SUPER anti-union!

...make NO mistake. It's simply amazing how many millions AND millions Delta management has spent with companies (that coach management and direct the anti-union campaign) to keep unions out.

The last vote in the flight attendant group (last fall) failed by only about 300 votes out of about 20,000. The company immediately stopped holding out AFA (Association of Flight Attendants) dues (from the former Northwest flight attendant group) BUT, they are still holding them to their contract, until the NMB makes a decision on company interference. This would fit perfectly with one out look that Delta wants to do as much damage as possible to AFA financially. There was also much hope that the United and Continental flight attendants would have left AFA (which they did NOT)...THAT would have done so much damage to AFA that the end result would have been uncertain for them (AFA).

FYI...for those out there that do NOT know, while it looks like one big company, management has NOT mixed the original Delta flight attendants with the former Northwest flight attendants. The two groups do not work together. The paint is the same, the uniforms are the same, the planes are mixed, the flight attendants now work all routes BUT they do not work together as a crew.

Again, make NO mistake...Delta is HOSTILE and is working at every turn against unions and labor laws.

[saras]

7. What the fuck is the use of having criminal law if it only applies to the poor?

No airline is too big to fail. No airline is necessary.

[Cool Logic]

8. "Blames House, Delta Airlines..." Come on Harry...

Blame it all on politics and you will always be completely right--instead of half right.

[SoapBox]

9. "FAA shutdown could cost government more than $1 billion" No thanks to ...Delta.

FAA shutdown could cost government more than $1 billion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 2, 2011

The U.S. government stands to lose more than $1 billion in revenue from uncollected airline ticket taxes in a quarrel between Senate Democrats and House Republicans who are demanding a $16.5 million cut in rural air service subsidies, according to a story by The Associated Press.

The shutdown of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is less than two weeks old and already the government has lost more than $250 million in revenue because the authority of airlines, including Delta and other carriers, to collect ticket taxes has expired. The entire annual budget of the rural air services program is about $200 million, the AP story said.

The Senate, with the federal debt crisis resolved, is expected to leave by the end of the week for its August recess. The House has already left. Unless the Senate accepts the House bill, lost revenue from uncollected airline ticket taxes could exceed $1.2 billion before lawmakers return to work a month later, the article said.

The lost ticket tax revenue is costing the government an estimated $200 million a week, the AP story said. The FAA has furloughed nearly 4,000 employees and issued stop-work orders on more than 200 construction projects.

Air traffic controllers have remained on the job. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has vowed that safety won’t be compromised and travelers won’t be inconvenienced.

Delta announced Monday that it will process tax refunds for customers who purchased tickets prior to the June 23 funding expiration and who are traveling during the FAA shutdown. The airline said in a press release the refunds will begin once an agreement is reached with the Internal Revenue Service on how to process them.