Aviation

Two House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require the government to set up an appeals process for people who are delayed at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after being "wrongly identified as a threat."

The Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Redress Act, H.R. 1583, would give people an avenue for contesting TSA decisions to screen them against the terrorist watch list. Misidentification by the TSA against the terrorist watch list can lead to delays or even banning people from boarding a flight.

A House lawmaker said Tuesday that by allowing air traffic controllers to be furloughed, President Obama is using the sequester as a political weapon to make the case for higher taxes.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said the furlough of about 14,000 air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is leading to "politically motivated" flight delays all around the country.

"This administration seems bound and determined to wield their sequester … like a club in order to drive their political agenda," Meadows said on the House floor.

"These unnecessary flight delays are just the latest proof that this administration is clearly more interested in making a political point than coming up with serious solutions to the problems that our nation faces," he said.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Air travelers reported long delays at airports Monday as the first worker furloughs related to the automatic spending cuts began. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned travelers that sequestration cuts will feel real this summer because of lengthy flight delays.

“Whether traveling from Maine or Montana they should expect a long delay for a flight,” Reid said on the Senate floor Monday. “Millions of Americans who fly will get their first taste of the pain of sequestration.”

Airline delays that result from furloughs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are examples of why Congress should have reached an agreement to avert the sequester, the White House said Monday.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that "furloughs cannot be avoided" at the FAA, where 70 percent of the operating budget was personnel costs.

"This is a result of sequester that is never meant to be law," Carney said. "And it was never meant to be law because of consequences like this." 

Airlines are encouraging their passengers to blame Congress for flight delays as sequester furloughs begin.

U.S. airlines have been banned from flying the Boeing 787 on commercial flights since January.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restricted the air space over a three-mile wide area where Boston police are searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week.

Officials are conducting a large manhunt in the Boston suburb of Watertown after a bloody shootout late Thursday night that left a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dead.

The FAA responded to the developments by issuing a “temporary flight restriction” Friday morning on planes flying below 3,000 feet in the area.

The agency said it was closing the Boston air space “to provide a safe environment for law enforcement.”