To implement the sequester-related reductions, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began to furlough personnel, including air traffic controllers, on April 21, 2013. The bill provided new authority to the Secretary of Transportation to transfer up to $253 million to FAA's "operations" account from other FAA accounts, including discretionary grants-in-aid for airports. 113-9 . FAA implemented various air traffic management initiatives to mitigate impacts of the reduced staffing due to furloughs, including increased aircraft spacing, which reduces the number of flights an airport can handle in a given period. In total, delays related to staffing reductions appear to have affected about 3%-4% of flights, with some acute delay impacts occurring in congested airspace, particularly in the New York City area. On April 27, 2013, following House and Senate passage of legislation to allow it to transfer $253 million from other accounts to its operations account, FAA announced that it had suspended all employee furloughs and that air traffic facilities would resume operations under normal staffing levels. Contrast with FAA's Summer 2011 Furloughs

FAA previously furloughed employees in the summer of 2011. The 2011 furloughs resulted from the effective temporary shutdown of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and a lapse in revenue collection authority for the Airport and Airways Trust Fund (AATF), which provides major funding for FAA programs. Other employees paid from the facilities and equipment and research, engineering, and development accounts were also furloughed, as the sole funding source for those FAA programs, the AATF, could no longer collect revenue. Certain employees funded from the facilities and equipment account who inspected FAA navigation and communications equipment were ordered to stay on the job without pay because they were deemed to be essential to the safety of the air traffic system. This distinction explains why, during FAA's April 2013 implementation of the sequester, federal civil service employees such as air traffic controllers were treated differently in comparison with the 2011 shutdown of certain FAA activities in response to a lapse in budget authority. Implications of the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 (RFDA; P.L. Amounts made available for obligation under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) in FY2013 for discretionary grants derived from apportioned funds not required in FY2013, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. RFDA and the Airport Improvement Program (AIP)

The Airport Improvement Program provides federal grants to airports for airport development and planning. In recent years, the balance of protected entitlement funds (i.e., carryover funds) has grown. Also, prior to the enactment of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 ( P.L. The transfer of these funds to other parts of FAA under RFDA will reduce eventual AIP discretionary outlays by a like amount. This reduction of obligational authority for AIP discretionary funding will eventually lead to reductions in outlays for airport improvements unless Congress decides to restore the funding in the future. Consequently, if the transfers authorized by RFDA reduce the $3.343 billion made available for FY2013 below $3.2 billion, most airports' entitlements could be reduced for the remainder of FY2013.
In response to across-the-board funding reductions in federal programs through the budget sequestration process implemented in FY2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began to furlough personnel, including air traffic controllers, on April 21, 2013. In conjunction with air traffic controller furloughs, FAA implemented various air traffic management initiatives to mitigate impacts of the reduced staffing on controller workload. This resulted in some delays affecting about 3%-4% of flights, with some acute delay impacts occurring in congested airspace, particularly in the New York City area.
Amid concerns over the impacts of air traffic controller furloughs, Congress passed the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 (P.L. 113-9). The act authorized FAA to transfer up to $253 million from funding available for airport grants or other FAA programs and accounts to the FAA operations account for necessary costs to prevent reduced operations and staffing and ensure a safe and efficient air transportation system. Following passage of this legislation in Congress, FAA suspended all employee furloughs and resumed air traffic control operations under normal procedures and full staffing levels.
Prior to the April 2013 furloughs, FAA furloughed employees in the summer of 2011. However, the FAA furlough actions associated with sequestration had a different legal basis and were consequently implemented quite differently. The summer 2011 furloughs arose as a result of a lapse in authority to collect Airport and Airways Trust Fund (AATF) revenues, the sole funding source for FAA's facilities and equipment (F&E) account, the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), and research, engineering, and development activities. Expenditure authority for AIP also expired in the summer of 2011. The expiration of these authorities resulted in immediate furloughs for most employees funded from these accounts. Some employees funded through the F&E account responsible for ensuring the safety and reliability of navigation and communications equipment were ordered to stay on the job. Employees paid through FAA's operations account, including air traffic controllers, were not furloughed in 2011.
Certain AIP grants-in-aid funds for airport development and planning are now subject to provisions of the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013. It appears that the transfer of the designated AIP discretionary funds to air traffic operations reduces the amount made available to airports under 49 U.S.C. 48103. This has implications for both the eventual spending of AIP discretionary funds and the calculation of the amount of AIP entitlement funding available for distribution.
Unless Congress takes further action, the transferred funds will eventually lead to real reductions in AIP discretionary spending. FAA may need to stop or reduce its AIP discretionary grant making for the remainder of FY2013 to comply with the act. Individual airports' formula "entitlements" could be reduced for the remainder of the fiscal year if FAA transfers most or all of the $253 million allowed under the act.