Washington ( CNN ) -- The nation 's airlines asked a federal court on Friday to stop the imminent furlough of air traffic controllers , saying the cuts could delay 6,700 flights daily with passengers waiting up to four hours in some cases . The Federal Aviation Administration is beginning the furloughs on Sunday as part of government-wide spending cuts that took effect in March due to inaction by Congress on a plan to cut the deficit . The FAA said the impact of the furloughs could be felt as early as Monday . Furloughs are hitting other agencies as well . While both sides agree furloughs would lead to substantial flight delays , the FAA and the airlines disagree on whether they are necessary . The FAA says it must furlough all 47,000 of its employees , including 15,000 air traffic controllers , as part of $ 637 million in planned spending cuts by September 30 , the end of the government 's fiscal year . The FAA 's annual budget is $ 16 billion . `` We can not avoid furloughs , '' Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said this week . But the airlines said that step is `` based on a false legal premise -- that Congress has required the precise cuts that ( the FAA has ) ordered . However , the Budget Control Act does nothing of the sort , '' the airlines argued in court papers . The agency could cut elsewhere and spare the traveling public the acute pain it will feel when controllers stay home , the carriers said . The motion was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by Airlines for America , the trade association representing major airlines , the Regional Airline Association , and the Air Line Pilots Association , a group representing unionized pilots . They are challenging the FAA , which oversees air traffic operations and aviation safety in the United States , and its parent agency , the Transportation Department . The airlines said it would push for congressional legislation deeming air controllers `` essential '' employees , which would exempt them from furloughs . It has asked the Obama administration for a 30-day delay of its furlough action so it could pursue the matter with Congress . `` We continue to believe that the FAA has other means to reach a 10 percent budget reduction than to impact the traveling public , '' A4A President Nick Calio said in a statement . `` When a company needs to make a 10 percent budget reduction , the answer is not to make it is so inefficient that no one wants to do business with it anymore . That 's essentially what the FAA is proposing , '' he said . A coalition of aviation associations also has called on the White House to give the FAA funding flexibility . `` While other federal agencies , such as the Transportation Security Administration ( TSA ) , Customs and Border Protection ( CPB ) , Meat Inspectors ( USDA ) and Bureau of Prisons ( DOJ ) , have taken steps to avoid furloughing their essential operational personnel , the FAA believes they have not been given the same flexibility , '' the group wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough .
Airlines seek court intervention to halt planned furloughs of air traffic controllers . The Federal Aviation Administration says furloughs are necessary due to budget cuts . There are 15,000 FAA air traffic controllers at U.S. airports and related facilities . NEW : A federal judge in Washington has ordered the government to stop enforcing a new rule that would have forced airlines to give up their right to fly without flight attendants on board planes.