In the news this week an item with potential effects on the U.S. aviation industry as we know it made its way through a variety of news outlets. The Aerospace Industries Association and Econsult Corporation released a report regarding the economic impact due to possible Federal Aviation Administration budget cuts. Unless Congress takes action these cuts would come as a result of possible sequestration at the end of the year.
Stephen P. Mullin, vice president and principal of Econsult Corporation and author of the study stated in one news report, "Sequestration would force the FAA to slash operations, bringing gridlock to the skies today, or defund modernization and infrastructure work. The closer we study sequestration the more destructive it turns out to be."
The news reports go on to say that sequestration could mean up to 132,000 aviation jobs would be lost with an annual economic losses that could amount to $80 billion annually by the year 2035. Now this does sound bad. For how many years has the FAA regularly faced possible shutdowns and a long string of temporary funding extensions? Yes … the politics … what does it all mean? You can read the entire news item on this website.
