Chad is the editor of AINalerts, AIN's daily business aviation newsletter, and is also the news editor at AIN Media Group.&nbsp;He has been writing about aviation, with an emphasis on business aviation, since 1994. Chad started his writing career at The Avion,&nbsp;the&nbsp;student newspaper at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serving as editor-in-chief before graduating with a bachelor's in aeronautical science. After a stint as managing editor at Professional Pilot&nbsp;magazine, he joined&nbsp;AIN in late 1998. Chad holds a commercial pilot certificated with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and he also is a CFI/CFII. He lives and works from his home in Venice, Florida.

Online Editor

Chad Trautvetter

On Sunday the FAA began air controller furloughs that the agency said are required to comply with budgets cuts mandated under sequestration. The move has resulted in not only cascading air traffic delays but also scorn and lawsuits from aviation industry groups.


In a joint letter sent Friday to the White House, 11 aviation groups–including NBAA, AOPA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca)–implored the FAA to avert the air traffic controller furloughs, saying that these employees are “essential personnel” and should thus be exempt from sequester cuts. Without their exemption, “It will be challenging for air traffic to continue to operate at its current rate of high efficiency,” they said.


That warning apparently wasn’t hype. “After just two days of furloughs, more than 10,000 flights have been delayed and more than 600 canceled,” Natca said. Today, the FAA announced it is “implementing traffic management initiatives at airports and facilities around the country” as a result of the furloughs, adding, “Travelers can expect to see a wide range of delays.” The FAA estimates that delays due to controller furloughs could affect up to 6,700 flights a day, roughly a third of the daily air traffic in the U.S.


Meanwhile, three groups–Airlines for America, the Air Line Pilots Association and the Regional Airline Association–filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on Friday to halt the controller furlough plan. Hearings for these cases will start this week.

News, issues, personnel, equipment and developments about air traffic management.

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News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

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News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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