Fight over FAA funding idles workers in SoCal

The standoff in Congress over funding for the Federal Aviation Administration has 4,000 workers standing on the sidelines. They’re furloughed until lawmakers move some money forward.

Most of California’s 200 furloughed FAA employees report to the agency’s Western Pacific Regional office in Hawthorne. They’re mainly engineers who supervise construction projects and help install new systems like the runway lights at LAX. Sam Samad is the regional head of the union that represents most FAA employees. He’s also been furloughed.

"Prior to the furlough, we were having staffing issues and staffing problems, and now with this furlough, there’s a lot of impact to the construction projects," he said.

Those would be projects like a new air traffic control tower under construction at Palm Springs International Airport.

"If I showed you a photo of the tower, it looks really neat. You’ve basically got the whole structure out there. And the work on the inside is just beginning," said airport executive director Tom Nolan.

Nolan says that thanks to federal stimulus money, the new tower is half finished. But the construction site is idle until Washington figures out the FAA’s funding.

"There are 60 people that were gainfully employed, probably being paid pretty well that had to stop work. Having five children myself, they’ve got families to feed and I can only empathize with that," Nolan said.