Reid Says FAA Shutdown Will Continue; Blames House and anti-union Delta Airlines

Reid Says FAA Shutdown Will Continue; Blames House, Delta Airlines

The Federal Aviation Administration has been in a partial shutdown mode since July 22. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the shutdown will continue, with some 4,000 federal workers remaining on furlough.

"It'll be closed until... maybe not September, maybe more than that," he tells All Things Considered co-host Michele Norris.

The FAA shutdown continues despite the end of weeks of debate over raising the federal debt ceiling — the House approved that legislation Monday, and the Senate followed suit Tuesday. President Obama signed the bill Tuesday afternoon.

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But Reid says the problem actually lies with one airline: Delta. "The House has tried to make this a battle over essential air service," he says. "It's not a battle over essential air service. It's a battle over Delta Airlines, who refuses to allow votes under the new rules that have been passed by the NLRB ."

The issue, Reid says, is Delta's "non-union" stance. The bill to fund the FAA, as crafted by House Republicans, includes language that sets new rules for aviation workers' votes on labor representation.

More: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/08/02/138936549/reid-says-faa-shutdown-will-continue-blames-house-delta-airlines