FAA shutdown to continue in partisan standoff

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, left, talks to American Airlines pilot Jesse J. Perkins after a news conference at which LaHood spoke of the interruption of federal funding for airport construction projects and contractors, at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Monday, August 1, 2011. The FAA's operating authority expired at midnight Friday, forcing a partial shutdown of the agency. Dozens of airport construction projects across the country have been put on hold and thousands of federal employees were out of work. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, left, talks to American Airlines pilot Jesse J. Perkins after a news conference at which LaHood spoke of the interruption of federal funding for airport construction projects and contractors, at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Monday, August 1, 2011. The FAA's operating authority expired at midnight Friday, forcing a partial shutdown of the agency. Dozens of airport construction projects across the country have been put on hold and thousands of federal employees were out of work. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, center, poses with tradesmen after a news conference to discuss the interruption of federal funding for airport construction projects and contractors at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Monday, August 1, 2011. The FAA's operating authority expired at midnight Friday, forcing a partial shutdown of the agency. Dozens of airport construction projects across the country have been put on hold and thousands of federal employees were out of work. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood discusses the interruption of federal funding for airport construction projects and contractors at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Monday, August 1, 2011. The FAA's operating authority expired at midnight Friday, forcing a partial shutdown of the agency. Dozens of airport construction projects across the country have been put on hold and thousands of federal employees were out of work. In the background is an old air traffic control tower whose demolition has been interrupted because of the funding interruption. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

(AP) ? A stalemate that has partially shut down the Federal Aviation Administration will continue into September. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Senate Democrats were unwilling to accept cuts in subsidies for rural air service.

House Republicans had demanded the $16.5 million in subsidy cuts as part of a bill to continue the FAA's operating authority. Senate Democrats repeatedly tried and failed to pass their own bill without the cuts.

The FAA's operating authority expired 11 days ago, as well as the authority of airlines to collect about $30 million a day in ticket taxes. If allowed to continue until Congress returns to work next month, the cost in lost revenue will be an estimated $1.2 billion.

Nearly 4,000 FAA employees have been laid off.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-08-02-Aviation%20Shutdown/id-7c134407cec048119e07e0aeebfd9c53

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