Pilots take issue with cut to air marshal funding in Obama's transportation budget

President Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal does not spend enough on air marshals and flight deck officers, the lobbying group of commercial airline pilots said Monday.

Obama called Monday for a transportation bill that spends $476 billion over the next six years as a part of the budget proposal he sent to Congress.

But the Washington, D.C.-based Air Line Pilots Association said Obama's budget cuts $36 million from the Federal Air Marshal Service and $13 million from the Federal Fight Deck Officer program.

“We appreciate the inherent difficulties of reducing our federal budget deficit," ALPA President Lee Moak said in a statement. "However, the result of this proposed budget cut would be a reduction in the number of federal air marshals currently assigned to front-line duties protecting airline flights, and it would nearly cut in half the funds dedicated to the FFDO program."

Moak said the FFDO program is a "critical and cost-efficient airline security program staffed by thousands of fully trained and deputized ALPA pilot volunteers, who already make great personal and professional sacrifices to secure our flight decks.

"In light of its already minimal funding levels, any budget reduction to the FFDO program could very well lead to its ultimate demise," he said.

The president's proposal included a renewal of his call for an increase to $7.50 in the security taxes airline passengers pay each way on trips, which the White House has said would augment the Transportation Security Administration's efforts to guard airports.

But Moak said the FFDO program is "an essential component of transportation security and has often been praised by the TSA for the additional layer of protection it brings to our skies."

Obama's budget also calls again for increasing a per-takeoff fee on flights that could run as high as $100.

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