LaHood: FAA workers to receive back pay in their next checks

{mosads}The FAA was partially shut down for nearly two weeks in July and early August when the House and Senate could not agree on an extension of the agency’s funding before it was set to run out. The shutdown was projected to have cost the federal government about $30 million per day in lost sales taxes on airline ticket purchases.

There had been an effort in Congress to pass legislation to provide the workers back pay, but it was later determined that LaHood had the authority to order the reimbursements without further congressional action.

LaHood said the back pay is “sure to be a relief to the hundreds of FAA employees I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with over the last few months at town hall meetings from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Anchorage, Alaska.

“For these folks, like so many families across America, a single missed paycheck can be a huge burden in these tough economic times,” he wrote. “So I’m thrilled to finally be able to make this situation right for them.”