Richard Walsh, assistant director of strategic communications and marketing at Logan, said the focus of airport officials is to meet the needs of the travelers, regardless of budget constraints.
“We have plans in place for all possible situations,” he said. “It does not matter if the delays are caused by a snowstorm or a sequestration, we have to be there in order to meet the travelers’ needs.”
Jim Peterson, facility representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the cuts to Logan must be prevented at all costs.
“The President and Congress must not allow this to happen,” he said. “Budget cuts known as sequestration will be detrimental to the National Airspace System, as well as to the nation’s fragile economy.”
Peterson said furlough days would be put in place in an effort to keep Logan’s 26 fully certified controllers, four traffic management coordinators and seven trainees employed.
“There could be a furlough, which means controllers who work in the operation could be forced to take 11 unpaid days off between April and September which is the end of the fiscal year,” he said. “Any non-operational personnel could be furloughed up to 22 days.”
These furloughs could lead to slower traffic flow, as fewer controllers are available to assist in daily operations, Peterson said.
“This in turn will result in ground delays for many aircraft,” he said. “If there is any significant weather along those routes which typically can delay departures on a good day, passengers can expect substantial delays.”
Peterson said the controllers at Logan will be heavily impacted.
“The controllers have to anticipate a loss of pay … but also may have to deal with a complex operation with less bodies to do it,” he said. “They are handling the safest air traffic in the world, all the while having the distraction of the possible furlough in the back of their minds.”
The cuts could have lasting implications on air traffic that may not be recovered, Peterson said.
“There are many operations that occur overnight such as military, emergency medical flights and cargo operations,” he said. “These operations will be directly affected and may be forced to cancel their operations on these airports.”
The Transportation Security Administration, which handles the security checkpoints at Logan, is also facing possible furlough days for employees.
“As sequestration takes effect, travelers can expect to see lines and wait times increase as reductions to overtime and the inability to backfill positions for attrition begin to occur this month,” the TSA said in a statement. “We expect that during busy travel periods, wait time exceeding 30-40 minutes could double at nearly all of the largest airports.”
Due to the reductions mandated by sequestration, TSA officials said they will put in place a hiring freeze.
“[The hiring freeze] will result in up to an additional 1,000 TSO vacancies by Memorial Day Weekend and up to 2,600 vacancies by the end of fiscal year,” the TSA said in a statement.
Shirley Dyke, an Indiana resident and Logan traveler, said it could become difficult to travel if the sequestration leads to significant delays and longer lines.
“In terms of airports we will have to be there earlier and it will be a lot more time consuming,” she said. “That being said, I think there are several other groups that will be worse off when it comes to the budget cuts than air passengers.”
Chuck Laliberte, a central Massachusetts resident and Logan traveler, said he thinks the pending cuts will not impact the number of travelers.
“People will still fly, because people are so in the habit of doing it, and often there is not a good substitution,” he said. “But there will be significantly more irritation among passengers, that is for sure.”
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