FAA Workers Furloughed In Shutdown To Get Back Pay

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly 4,000 workers who were furloughed in a two-week partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration this summer were told Friday in an email that they will receive back pay The back pay will be in their Oct. 18 paychecks, according to a copy of the email from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.

The FAA said in a separate statement that it's using authority provided in a bill passed by Congress in August ending the shutdown to award the back pay. The agency was forced to partially shut down after Congress allowed its operating authority to lapse in a partisan dispute between the House and Senate.

The money will come from an aviation trust fund that partially funds FAA programs, including construction and safety grants to airports.

The shutdown cost FAA nearly $400 million in uncollected airline ticket taxes.